A Stronger Weakness
by Boss-Nass
Summary: The X-Men take in a brain-wiped mutant, and Wolverine is assigned as the "baby-sitter". Meanwhile, a follower of Magneto and her group of mutants operate in the shadows while plotting a major terrorist attack.
1. Prologue

**A Stronger Weakness  
****Prologue **

I slumped around my small apartment, holding a book to my face. It was brutally cold for October, especially Halloween. I felt bad for the little children who ran around outside, probably freezing in their cheap costumes. At least it was a free night for mutants – the ones with physical differences, that was. They could walk the streets pretending they were wearing a costume, as if they were like everyone else. As if they weren't freaks.

_Freaks._

And I was one of them... one of the freaks. I had been locked up in a basement for it. I was living in a squeaky old apartment for it.

"Oh, God," I said aloud, setting my book down on the coffee table in the middle of my living room. "Why can't I just be like everyone else?" I asked towards the heavens.

"There is a cure, you know." a sudden voice said from the shadows. I didn't recognize it. It was a woman's voice – high pitched and quick, something like I imagined squirrel's voice to be.

I swung my head around to where the voice had come from – the kitchen. It was too dark to see anything, but I could hear perfectly. There was a thud, then footsteps, and a shadowed figure stepped into the living room.

The woman emerged from the shadows, walking in a feline manner. She was small and curvy, and her skin was so pale that it made me wonder if she was just an illusion. Her black hair was short and choppy, and barely brushed her shoulders. Gleaming in the moonlight that swept past her face was a set of two glowing yellow eyes complete with feline irises. The woman was dressed all in black leather that was so tight it could have ripped right off.

She stopped at my couch and sat down on the arm, licking the back of her hand. Only then did I notice that her fingernails had been cut and sharpened so that they resembled claws.

"Panther, are you trying to turn the girl into a human?" said another female voice. It wasn't from the kitchen, but rather from a few feet in front of me. I couldn't see anything, and grew extremely confused.

I backed away from the voice until I hit the wall.

Panther just continued to lick the back of her hand as if she hadn't heard the voice. "Camouflage, come out where we can see you." she said, still grooming herself.

A black woman appeared out of nowhere, standing tall above me. She was muscular and her mere presence was intimidating, especially at such close range. Her skin was light, but her hair was an ashy black. Her face was heart-shaped, with high cheek bones and round eyes, and without that scowl she might have looked hospitable. Her dark eyes shone in the moonlight, filled with intent.

I gulped and dug my fingers into the wall behind me, breaking the plaster. "Who are you?" I managed to choke out.

The women just stayed in their positions and looked at each other, then burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Camouflage, Panther," snapped a voice from the past. Her voice was cold and shrill, like a rush of freezing wind had just swept through the drafty apartment. Goosebumps appeared on my arms and legs, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. "We mustn't scare the children," said the voice, and the figure it belonged to manifested from her hiding place.

I gulped again, but stood my ground. I couldn't show fear around my sister. "Adrian," I said sternly, but quickly corrected.

"My name is Control." the mutant said strictly, as if she was ashamed of her birth name. "And this is Camouflage... and Panther." she introduced the two other women after a second of letting her own self-proclaimed name drift into the quiet of the night.

I was guessing that the feline woman was named Panther and the woman that had appeared out of nowhere was called Camouflage. Camouflage must have had some invisibility abilities because it fit her name and how she had just suddenly materialized out of nothing in front of me. And Control.

Yes, that fit, too. Adrian had always been the one in control of everything, everyone. I wondered if Panther and Camouflage had joined her voluntarily.

"Yes, they did." Adrian replied to my thoughts. That was right - I'd almost forgot my sister could read minds. "I would never force another mutant to do something against their will." she lied, stepping toward me.

Panther had stopped grooming herself once Adrian had made her presence known, and Camouflage had stepped back from the main scene to watch from the sidelines.

Adrian was only a few feet from me now, staring me down with her coal black eyes. They were like two little onyxes in the middle of a sea of platinum blond hair. Like the feline's, her skin was a pale alabaster and it looked as if she hadn't seen sun in centuries.

I didn't know if Adrian was making me feel that way or if she was truly that intimidating, but I started to feel a deep rumble in the pit of my stomach – like I was feeling the side effects of a spoiled dinner.

But I still didn't understand why Adrian and her little friends were here in my apartment. What could my sister possibly want from me? Knowing Adrian, she would have to have a very good reason as to come all the way to Trenton from wherever the hell she had roamed to, instead of just sending one of her slaves.

"They aren't my slaves, dear sister." Adrian said, still scanning my thoughts. "Like I said before, I would never force another mutant to do something against their will." she repeated, taking another small step toward me.

Still, what was she doing here? I couldn't wait for her to process my thoughts. "What do you want with me?" I asked sternly.

Adrian laughed – a crackly, maniacal laugh that sent chills down my spine. "Hasn't it become obvious yet? We want you to join us." she said, as if I might take her seriously.

I scoffed. "Like I would ever play on your team. You locked me up in a dirty cellar! And, on top of the torture you put me through, you expect me to join your little club set to destroy the human race?" I screamed, stepping towards Adrian. My burning face was just inches from hers.

She kept cool, and a little smirk forming at the edge of her lips. "I'm guessing that's a no?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"Yes! Yes! Of course that's a no!" I screamed at her, my arms flailing everywhere.

Adrian laughed again, this time throwing back her head and smiling wickedly. After her little spasm, she motioned for Camouflage and Panther to come toward us. "Hold her back." she commanded, and the two other women grabbed my arms and pushed me against the wall.

I was much too strong for them. As soon as they grabbed me, I threw them off, sending Camouflage through a wall and Panther into the couch. "You know you can't keep me down, Adrian."

"Is that so?" she asked, forcing me against the wall again. Telepaths were my worst enemy.

Adrian pushed her forehead against mine, and there was a horrible screeching in my head. I screamed at the pain, but that didn't stop my sister. The shrill noise was enough to knock off my balance, making me incapable of moving, aside from my squirming.

The last thing I remember was that ear-splitting sound, and then it was all black.


	2. Taking Control

_"He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them."_

[xxxxx]

**1. Taking Control**

Logan stepped steadily into the cramped room and his eyes immediately caught sight of Storm. "Hey," he said softly, shutting the door behind him. "You said you wanted to see me about something?"

Storm glanced at him, then stood up from her chair and stepped forward. "Meet Adrian Davis," she said, gesturing to the window looking in on a small room, "otherwise known as Control."

Logan turned and looked through the one-way mirror. On the other side was a small room made entirely of cement. The room's only contents were a small cot, a desk, and an old wooden chair. A woman with white-blond hair sat at the desk, reading a book.

As soon as Logan looked at her she peered over her shoulder, revealing her face. She was obviously young – maybe twenty-five or thirty – but appeared also very mature. Her face was thin and long, as was her nose, with thin eyes and lips.

She looked to be disturbed and rundown. There were dark circles beneath her eyes and her lips were exceptionally cracked and faded. Her colorless hair was greasy and mangled; her natural brown roots were starting to grow back in.

"What can she do?" Logan asked.

Storm sighed, trying to think of a way to explain. "She can control minds – read thoughts, influence mentality, and create illusions; almost anything having to do with psychological control." she said, watching the woman closely. "She's class 4 and a follower of Magneto – a dangerous mix."

"And why do you need to see me?" he asked sharply.

She grinned, but only for a moment. "She wishes to speak with you. We have a few questions that need to be answered, and she claims she will answer them if she may meet with you."

"Why does she want to–"

"Just go." Storm interrupted, pointing towards the door that separated the observation room from the cell, and Logan followed.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Control turned to him. Instantly she knew who he was and a wide grin played across her lips. For some reason, Logan thought, she seemed prettier without the window in front of her. Perhaps it was just the lighting.

"What you see isn't real. It's simply an illusion that I've placed into your mind." she explained, and it took Logan a few seconds before realizing that she was reading his thoughts. "There could really be a knife at your throat right now and you wouldn't even know." she continued, piquing his nerves. Control sensed his emotions and her smile widened, but she decided to change the subject.

"So, you must be the notorious Wolverine that I've heard so much about." she said, holding eye contact. "Is it true you killed Jean Grey?" she said, perhaps just to get on his nerves.

Logan stepped forward and let a slight snarl escape his throat.

"Oh, tsk tsk..." Control continued, "I'll take that as a yes… it's a shame, you know. She was so powerful. And – I've been dying to find out, so pray tell – is it just a rumor that you loved her?" she said, leaning forward eagerly.

He narrowed his eyes and took another step toward her. Control smirked as he released angry, heavy breath. "I swear, I'll kill you. It's not like anyone will mind." he snarled.

She quickly gave him the illusion that she was Jean, even imitating her voice. "You wouldn't kill me twice, would you, Logan?"

When Logan unsheathed his claws and held them in front of himself as if daring her to continue, she allowed him to see what was truly there, but continued to smile invitingly.

Abruptly, she stood up from her chair and stretched her arms above her head. She turned around to look at him, a crooked smile forming on her face–

In one swift movement, she was across the room and Logan was pinned against the wall. Even as he tried to push her off, she kept control of him and dug her forehead into his. He had no clue what she was doing, but the pain it caused was tremendous.

Before he knew it, Control was flung away from him by an unseen force. Storm was in the room, pulling him out into the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Logan demanded when they had gotten out into the hallway.

Storm stared back at the metal door and bared her teeth. "If she can get enough concentration and time, Control can permanently burn a sentiment into your mind. She was probably trying to turn you." she explained, still looking at the door.

Logan scoffed. "If you think I'm going back in there, you're insane." he said, turning to walk off.

"Wait!" Storm called after him, and he stopped, but didn't turn to face her. "There's one more thing."

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter... I just felt it was appropriate to cut off right there!

The quote is the rough translation of a Chinese proverb.


	3. A New Friend

"Make new friends, but keep the old."

[xxxxx]

**2. A New Friend**

"Why me?" Logan asked, his tense muscles showing every indication of anger.

He stood in front of Storm's desk and she on the other side. She leaned back in her chair and stared up coolly, unfazed by his evident temper.

"I give you orders, and you follow them. That's how it goes." she explained, with identical wording, for the umpteenth time.

Logan clenched his jaw shortly, but gave in. "Why not get Kurt to do it? Kids like fuzzy blue things, don't they?"

Storm stood up and leaned forward, hands resting on her desk. "This was a joint decision. You've been given a task. Now fulfill it." She handed him a thick purple folder that felt to contain a lot of crap that he probably would never need.

He took it, but before he had a moment to open it, Storm ushered him away from her desk and toward the door. "Now, out you go. I have work to do."

She saw him to the door and out into the hallway before he could get even a word out. He heard her turn the lock, so didn't bother trying to get back in for further explanation.

Logan stood in the hallway a moment before opening the purple folder labelled, hand-written in black marker: "Lenore Davis". Inside were some medical files, a birth certificate, among other identification files. There were also a few pages giving information on Susan and James Davis, who must have been the girl's parents.

He pulled out a photo from the folder.

It was of two women, one looking to be in her early twenties and the other middle-aged. They held a striking resemblance to one another, beside the fact that the young one was a redhead and the older had fading blond hair.

He flipped the photo over, and written on the back was the date of the photo – "June 7, 2002" – along with two names – "Susan & Lenore".

There was also a short note in the folder, addressed to him.

"Logan," it read. "In this folder you will find all the information you need on Miss Lenore Davis."

Lenore was the girl that Storm had told her about.

"It holds her legal, medical and personal details," it continued. "I ask you to familiarize yourself with Miss Davis's past while she is in your care. I am hopeful that you two will get along. Miss Davis is currently staying in Room 237 on the second floor of the girls' dormitory. She will be waiting for you there."

The letter was signed with Hank McCoy's signature, but below it 'Beast' was playfully scrawled out in primitive-style writing.

Logan gave a small chuckle before heading off to find the strange Miss Lenore Davis.

[xxxxx]

As he hesitated at the old wooden door, Logan took a deep breath. He stared at his hand that floated a few inches away from the door, and wondered what this girl was going to be like.

He knocked on the door with two solid, hard knocks.

"One second!" A voice called out from inside the room.

After the clicking of a lock, the door swung open quickly to reveal the young woman who he had seen in the photo. Her red hair was even more vibrant in person than it was in the photo, but now it was pulled into one loose braid that curled around her neck. Her most notable feature was her height – she stood almost a foot shorter than him. Dressed in bright blue denim shorts and a pink T-shirt, Lenore looked more like an elementary schoolgirl than a woman, Logan thought, and that he must have misjudged her age.

"You must be Logan." she said in a cheerful voice before abruptly grabbing his wrist and pulling him into the room.

Once inside, Logan took a look around the room, cocking an eyebrow at the stuffed animals and childish posters that decorated the room. It looked like a little girl's paradise.

Lenore closed the door and plopped down on her bed, crossing her legs and nibbling her lip. "Storm told me all about you." she said, staring at him curiously.

He nodded, and shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other, then back again. "I'm guessing that you're–"

"Lenore Katherine Davis?" she finished his sentence, smiling energetically and bobbing her head. "Yep. That's me." she confirmed.

Logan nodded slightly, and began to pace around the room. "I'm supposed to be your babysitter, y'know. Supposedly I have nothing better to do." he grunted, looking out the lonely window opposite the door.

Lenore smirked. "Do we get to hang out?" she asked, trying to conceal her excitement.

He scoffed. "Unfortunately… yes."

She celebrated silently, smiling and humming a soft tune to herself. "So, what do you want to do?" Lenore asked, looking up at Logan, who drifted about the room.

"There's not a whole lot to do around here." he replied blandly.

She nodded. "That's alright, because I always find something to do. My mom says I'm very inventive."

There was an weird silence.

Lenore sighed, and Logan watched as she took a doll from her end table and played with it. "Logan?" she said, peering over at him. "Can you tell me why I'm here?"

He sighed. The purple folder hadn't said anything about Lenore's purpose at the mansion, and neither had Storm. "Do you have anywhere I could sit, kid?"

Lenore gestured to a wicker chair that sat near the window, and Logan dragged it over to the side of her bed before taking a seat. He leaned forward, and rested his hands on his knees. "To tell you the truth… I got no clue."

"Are you lying?" she asked calmly, but obviously unsatisfied with his answer. "Everyone always lies. Somebody has to know why I'm here. Nobody would just put me here for no reason, would they?"

Logan shrugged and reclined back in his chair. In the medical file it had explained something about amnesia, but wouldn't Storm have told the girl about that? "Sorry, kid. Like I said, I've got no clue."

Lenore huffed and picked up her doll, dropping the subject. "Are you a mutant?"

He took a deep, rugged breath and lightly tapped his forefinger on his knee. "Yep." he answered. He watched as Lenore again leaned across the bed end table to grab another doll.

"Well, what can you do?" she asked expectantly.

Logan sighed and lifted his hand up. Making sure that it was out of the way, he unsheathed his right-hand claws. "Some trick, huh?"

Lenore gaped at the shiny metal claws with awe and fear. She nodded. "You… have knives… in your hands?"

He nodded. "Yep."

Slowly, a smile creeped onto her face. "Cool." Her eyes turned from his claws to his face. "Can I touch them?" she asked eagerly.

"Oh, no… no…" Logan sheathed his claws before the girl had a chance to get her hands anywhere near them. "They're sharp. You'll cut yourself."

"No I won't!" Lenore protested, dropping her Barbies. "Please? Can I just touch them one time?" She put her hands together in a praying gesture and stuck out her bottom lip. "Pretty please?"

"No means no, kid." Logan growled.

Lenore picked her Barbie back up and began to brush her fingers through the doll's hair. "You don't have to be so mean about it," she whined, pouting her lip just the slightest bit.

He rolled his eyes.

"Do you wanna go to the library?" Lenore asked after a few moments of silence, turning from her doll to Logan.

He raised an eyebrow. "The library?"

She nodded.

"Why would you wanna go to the library? Don't kids like to ride bikes and climb trees and stuff?"

She shrugged. "I guess some kids like to do that stuff, but I like the library. It's quiet and it smells nice. Besides, Dr. McCoy's there. He's really nice."

"Whatever you want. I've got nothing better to do."

Lenore smiled and hopped off of the bed. "Let's skedaddle!"

[xxxxx]

The library, as usual, was cooler than the rest of the building. When Logan stepped inside, he felt and immediate wave of cold air rush over him. Unintelligible whispers could be heard from throughout the library, but for the most part it was quiet.

He followed Lenore to a secluded area in one of the far corners of the expansive library, where two leather chairs and a lamp seemed to be reserved for them.

"You can wait here." Lenore whispered to him. "I'm going to find a book."

He nodded, and in an instant Lenore was out of sight. He turned to one of the nearby bookshelves and began to skim the titles. It seemed he was in the history section of the library, because the book titles ranged everywhere from "Rulers of the Ancient World" to "The War that Made America".

"Looking for anything in particular?" His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice, and Logan turned to greet Dr. Hank McCoy – Beast.

"Hey, Hank." Logan greeted, smiling slightly. "Don't you have classes this time of the day?"

Hank scrunched his eyebrows together. "Logan, you must've lost track of time. It's almost six o'clock." He gestured to a clock that hung on the wall, and sure enough it read 5:58.

"Oh," Logan said, shocked that it was this late. "You're right – I must've lost track. I've been a bit out of it lately."

Hank nodded understandingly. "May I ask what I have done to deserve the honor of being graced with your presence?" He placed his hand on Logan's shoulder lightly, guiding him away from the bookshelves and back toward the sitting area he had previously been in.

"It's not what you did," Logan explained as they both sat down. "Lenore wanted to come here. I didn't know that kids her age could even read."

"I'm sure you'd be surprised what children Lenore's age can do." Hank said, chuckling. There was a bit of silence as his eyes scanned what little of the library they could see from their position. "Did you see where Lenore ran off to? I wouldn't want her getting lost in this big library again."

Logan shook his head. "No. She said she was looking for a book or something, so she'll be back in a few minutes. I'm not too worried about her."

Hank smiled. "Well, in that case, there's something that I would like to show you."

Logan raised his eyebrow, somewhat skeptically. "I'm a little scared."

"Oh, I'm promise, it's very very intriguing…" Hank continued. "I received a package and letter today, and I shared it with one of my classes. I think you'll find it very fascinating…" As he was speaking, Hank had been leading Logan out past the bookshelves and over to the front desk of the library.

He stepped behind the desk and pulled out a small, square cardboard box. He also pulled out a microscope from one of the drawers and plugged it in. "I tell you, it's the most amazing thing I've seen in years!"

[xxxxx]

Lenore was lost in thought.

She looked up at the many books crammed into the shelves, but stuck to only looking at the ones she could reach, for obvious reasons. She strolled down the aisles, her fingers glazing over the spines of each book, waiting until a title caught her attention.

"Need some help?"

The redhead turned round slowly to meet an unfamiliar face. He was tall, and handsome, with short blond hair and bright blue eyes. When he saw Lenore's surprised reaction, a dazzling white smile flashed across his face before quickly disappearing.

He took a step toward Lenore and held out his hand. "Hi. My name's Warren. You must be new here."

She shook his hand delicately. "My name is Lenore. I got here a few weeks ago."

Again, Warren smiled his stunning smile. "Oh, so _you're_ Lenore. I've heard a lot about you, y'know. You're older than I pictured you to be."

Lenore nodded, and she could feel the blood begin to rush to her cheeks as an awkward silence crept upon their conversation.

"So, have you found what you're looking for yet?" he asked, breaking the silence.

She looked over at the bookshelves, then back up at Warren. "No, not yet..."

"I'm sure I can help with that." he said, stepping close to her, but looking at the bookshelf. "Right now you're in the mystery section, so we should start with that. Are you looking for a mystery story?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Just a good book."

Warren looked down in thought. "Hmm…" He looked up abruptly and smiled. "Have you ever read _The Hound of the Baskervilles_?"

Lenore shook her head.

"Well, it's a Sherlock Holmes novel, and it's very good. It's about a family–"

He was cut off by Lenore. "That's very nice of you, but I think I'd be better off on my own." She meant to be polite, but her voice came out a bit harsh.

Warren nodded. "Okay. Well, I hope you find something." With that, he turned and headed in the other direction.

"Wait!" Lenore called, and Warren turned around and gave her an expectant look. She took a step forward. "Where are you going?"

He gave a quick glance down to his watch, then back up to Lenore. He shrugged. "Well, it's about dinnertime, so I was thinking about heading out to get something to eat."

"Oh," she said quietly, and looked down at her feet.

Warren shifted his feet. After a few seconds of silence, he stepped a bit closer. "Y'know, you could some with me if you want."

Lenore looked up, surprised, but happy. She smiled brightly and her eyes widened. "Can I really?"

He shrugged, but smiled nevertheless. "Yeah, sure. It's not like there's much to do around here anyways." He gestured for her to follow him, and Lenore scurried to his side.

"Are you sure?" she asked as they emerged from the rows of bookshelves and out near the entrance to the library.

Looking down at Lenore beside him, Warren nodded. "Why not? You didn't eat dinner already, did you?"

She shook her head.

"Well, then there's no reason why you can't tag along." He led them out of the library and into the halls, which were virtually deserted on account of the time.

Lenore clung to Warren's side, quickly scurrying beside him in order to keep up with his long strides. She continuously glanced up at his angelic features, but his gaze was fixed upon the path ahead.

Once they reached the courtyard, Warren led Lenore to a garage filled with cars and other vehicles.

"Which one is yours?" she asked, looking down the row of various cars.

Warren stopped at a shiny black sedan and rubbed the hood of it with his sleeve. "This one." he said proudly

Lenore touched the odd symbol at the head of the car that looked like a cross with a circle around it. "It's very shiny." she commented, smiling.

"Thanks." he said dryly. "Hop in."

Lenore took the front passenger's seat while Warren adjusted his mirror and turned on some old music with a man singing. Being too small for the big black leather seats, Lenore felt awkward, but once they were out on the road she had figured out how to adjust her seat to fit her comfortably.

"So what are you in the mood for?" Warren asked once they had reached a busier part of town, away from the institute.

"I dunno." Lenore said with a shrug, gazing out at a young couple strolling along with a dog and baby stroller.

"There's this quaint little restaurant I know called Annabelle's, not too far from here, and they serve the tastiest wedding soup I have ever had."

"That sounds nice." Lenore said, pulling herself away from the window as they made a turn.

Warren sighed. "We might be a little underdressed, though. A sweatshirt and blue jeans isn't the ideal outfit for this place."

Turning back to the window, Lenore frowned. "Oh." She paused, and glanced back at Warren. "Where are we going, then?"

"Hold on." he said, and made a sharp right turn. "I have an idea."

[xxxxx]

Warren pulled the car smoothly into an open parking space outside of a long row of brick buildings with large glass windows and stepped out of the car.

"Where's the restaurant?" Lenore asked, also stepping out of the big black car. She looked down the row of shops and stores, but none of them advertised food in their windows.

"I have something else in mind." Warren said, leading Lenore into a store with lots of pretty clothing in the windows.

Inside, it was a warm haven from the windy November day outside. The shop was large and spacey, with lots of dresses and expensive-looking clothing that lined the walls on mannequins. Other dresses were hanging in rows throughout the store and in no particular order.

Almost immediately, a small round woman barely taller than Lenore came rushing up to them. Her hands were jittery, and there were lots of long beads that hung loosely around her neck.

"Young Mr. Worthington!" she exclaimed, her tanned and wrinkled face crinkling when she smiled. "It's so nice to see you again! And who might this lovely young lady be?" she turned toward Lenore and her smile broadened.

"This here is the reason for our visit today." Warren said, wrapping an arm around Lenore's shoulders. "Her name is Lenore."

"Oh, Lenore! What a lovely name! That was my grandmother's name, you know." she smiled again and touched Lenore's arm with a soft hand. "Yes, yes… a lovely name indeed."

"Well, Marge, we just need some casual evening attire for my friend here – with accessories, of course." Warren said.

Marge nodded. "Yes, yes. Can do, can do. Right this way, dear." She grabbed Lenore's wrist and guided her through the rows of clothing.

Every once, she would pick out a random dress and hold it up to Lenore, then mutter something under her breath and put it back. Finally, she chose a nice white dress and instead of muttering, she smiled.

Again she grabbed Lenore's wrist and pulled her to the back of the store, where there were several changing rooms lined against the wall. She shoved the dress into Lenore's hands and pushed her into one of the cramped rooms.

"Hurry, hurry!" Marge insisted, and rushed back out to where Warren was stand.

Lenore hurriedly changed into the dress, and stopped to look at herself in the mirror. It was a sundress, almost completely white, aside from the lacy flowers that bordered the bottom of the skirt. It was sleeveless – something new for her – but it was still comfortable and she was satisfied. She adjusted the straps a bit, then stepped out of the changing room, where Warren and Marge stood waiting.

Marge was ready with three pairs of white sandals that she commanded Lenore to try on. The second pair of sandals were the only ones that fit, so Marge scurried off with the other two pairs, only to return with a tray of jewelry in her hands.

She had Lenore try on earrings and bracelets and necklaces until she decided that she had found the perfect combination.

When she was finished, Marge smiled and stepped back to admire her piece of art. "You look so beautiful, so beautiful…"

Warren was smiling, too, but Lenore just looked down at the giant ring on her finger and fumbled with it until she forced herself to be comfortable with the way it weighed down on her hand.

"Now," Warren said to Marge after a moment or two of admiring Lenore. "How much will this cost?" He took out a nice black leather wallet from his pocket and opened it up, revealing a thick wad of cash and more than several credit cards.

"Let me see…" Marge said to herself before turning to Lenore and calculating the price of each item in her head. "That comes to about five-hundred and twenty dollars." she said and turned back to Warren.

At the sound of that much money, Lenore's eyes bulged out from her head. She hadn't even seen that much money in her entire life, let alone someone spending that much on her.

Warren just nodded and pulled out a shiny gold card. "Credit?" he asked.

_Whatever that means._

"Of course!" Marge said, still smiling broadly. She led Warren over to the cash register along the side of the store, and Lenore followed.

As the two adults were discussing prices and money and such, Lenore's eyes wandered over to the large windows at the front of the store. Outside, the sky was growing darker with every passing moment. She looked down at her sleeveless sundress and wondered how it was supposed to keep her warm in this gloomy weather.

"Hey," Lenore said abruptly and louder than she had intended. Marge and Warren looked at her expectantly. "Is this sundress going to keep me warm at all?" she asked.

"Would you like a sweater, dear?" Marge asked, and before Lenore could answer, a thin grey sweater was being pushed onto her shoulders. She ripped the price tags off, and just smiled. "Oh, you look lovely, lovely…"

Warren just frowned. "How much for the sweater?" he asked, pulling out his wallet again.

"Oh no, no…" Marge said with another bright smile. "This one's on me…"

He smiled. "Thanks again, Marge."

"Oh, any time! Any time!" she giggled as she escorted her two customers to the door. "Tell your father I say hello, okay?"

Warren nodded as they exited. "Will do, Marge."

"Do you know her well?" Lenore asked when they had gotten into the car.

"Who, Marge?" Warren replied as he started the engine. "Her husband and my father are buddies. I've known her since I was little. Her son and I were friends when we were young." He backed the car out of its parking space and pulled out onto the road.

"Wait!" Lenore shouted suddenly, startling Warren and making him swerve the car. "What about my other clothes? We forgot them!"

Warren scoffed and readjusted himself in the seat. "Darling, you won't need those clothes anymore."

Lenore pouted her lip. "That was my favorite shirt."

"If you want, I'll buy you a new one." he said after a bit of silence, and glanced at Lenore.

She looked at him skeptically. "Really?" she asked, and raised an eyebrow.

Warren glanced back and nodded. "Really." he confirmed.

Lenore smiled and turned back toward the window, beyond which various shops and stores were passing them by.

[xxxxx]

"… and if you looked at this one, you can see how the human cell and the mutant cell react differently when…"

Logan was extremely bored. Somehow, Hank always had a way of turning a decent conversation into a lesson on genealogy, or physics, or something else that Logan had no comprehension of.

"Here, Logan, look at this slide."

Doing as he was told, Logan put his eye to the telescope and looked at bunch of multicolored dots and circles that he didn't understand.

"Do you see that?" Hank asked once Logan took his eye off of the telescope.

_See what?_ Logan thought. "Yep, I see it." he said.

Hank smiled. "Isn't it amazing?"

_Are you kidding me?_ "Sure is, Hank."

"These slides were sent to me by my good friend Dr. Ronald Kim. He works in medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and he's recently been leading a study that researches how diseases affect humans and mutants differently."

_Sounds like a real interesting guy._ "Sounds like a real interesting guy."

"He is! We met back at…" Hank paused when he noticed Logan's uninterested expression. "Oh, you're being sarcastic, aren't you?"

Logan nodded. "I'm surprised that you didn't catch on until now."

"Well," Hank huffed as he began to collect all of his slides and return them to their box. "Perhaps it would do you well to try and broaden your scope of interests. Cigars, beer and fighting don't do too well on a résumé." he said smartly before picking up his things and disappearing behind a bookshelf.

Logan rolled his eyes and strolled off in the other direction. "Drama queen." he muttered beneath his breath.

Suddenly, he looked up and realized something. Where was Lenore? She had been gone a while and…

Recklessly, Logan rushed around the huge library, looking up and down every aisle for the little redhead. She was nowhere in sight.

"Kitty!" Logan whispered loudly once he set eyes on a small round-faced brunette. It wasn't a big surprise to see her in the library considering the type of student she was.

Kitty stopped in her tracks and turned toward Logan, who was still approaching her. "Logan," she said, slightly surprised. "I didn't think that you even knew libraries existed." she said sarcastically, hugging her pile of books to her chest.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." he replied dryly. "Have you seen a redhead around here? Looks about thirty, about ye high?" He lifted his hand to show Lenore's approximated height.

"Yeah, yeah… I think I saw her. Was she wearing a pink T-shirt and jeans?"

"Yeah, that's her. Where was she headed?"

Kitty shrugged. "I think they were saying something about dinner, but I wasn't paying that much attention, anyway."

"They?" Logan asked earnestly. "She was with somebody?"

Kitty furrowed her brow, but nodded. "Yeah. She was with Mr. Worthington." She paused. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, seeing the annoyance in Logan's face.

He shook his head, but his upper lip curled. "No. Everything's alright." With that, he stomped off, headed toward the exit.

* * *

The restaurant Annabelle's, appearing in this chapter, is based upon Isabel's, a cafe located in Avalon, NJ. I was originally going to call it Isabel's, but we already have a character named Isabelle and I didn't want the story to be any more confusing than it already is.

I apologize for all of the cheesiness and fluff in this chapter.


	4. Sisters

"_Sisters__ never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 3****: Sisters**

With angry strength, the door to Storm's office flew open and Logan appeared at the doorway. She stood up to yell at him for the intrusion, but he spoke before she could get a word out.

"Lenore's gone." He said angrily.

"_What_?" Storm asked, confused and angry. "You were supposed to be watching her 24/7! What _happened_?"

Logan growled. "She got _snatched_… by _Warren_…"

"_Warren_?" She asked sceptically and laughed before setting herself back down in her seat. "Warren can take well enough care of Lenore."

He glared at Storm. "He took her off grounds without permission from you _or_ Hank." Not that he cared about Warren taking anybody butLenore off grounds, but he knew that she would.

"Wait," Storm said, her expression serious as she stood up. "He took her _off grounds_?"

"Why are you so suddenly interested?"

"We're taking my car." She said sternly and marched out of her office, grabbing her jacket on the way. Logan followed quickly behind her.

Within less than a minute they were in the car, Storm driving. Logan sat in the front passenger's seat with his window rolled down all of the way.

"Do you have their scents?" Storm asked as they drove along, well past the speed limit.

"I picked it up in the garage." He said with his nose stuck out the window. "It's impossible to lost track of that playboy's nasty stench."

Storm nodded and continued to drive, even going into the opposite lane in order to zoom past cars that were going too slow for her taste. "Make a right at this light up here." Logan commanded, and she did as told.

A while later, Storm's sleek black sedan pulled into the parking lot of _Marge's Tailoring and Custom Design_. They both climbed out of the car and walked toward the entrance, but Storm stopped as Logan did.

"What is it?" She asked.

"They're not here anymore, and I don't smell any trouble." He said with a growl, "Not like I know why the hell Warren'd bring her here in the first place."

Storm paused. "We should go inside anyway."

He shook his head. "No. It's a waste of time. We're movin' on." He turned around, but Storm stopped him with her hand.

"I think you're forgetting who's in charge."

"I think _you're_ forgetting who's got the nose here."

Storm crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze, and Logan mimicked her. "Fine." She said reluctantly before turning away. As she reclaimed her seat behind the wheel, he smirked and jumped back into the car.

Within minutes they were back on the trail. Storm followed Logan's driving directions willingly, much to his delight.

"There," He said finally as they stopped at an intersection and pointed at a lonely building across the street. A neon sign that glowed in the cloudy haze and hung about the door read _Annabelle's_. "They're in there."

Silently, Storm pulled the car into the parking lot, which was for the most part vacant. Logan stepped out of the car, his nostril involuntarily flaring with annoyance and zeal.

[xxxxx]

"So, how do you like the wedding soup?" Warren asked with a smile, taking a sip of his own French onion dish.

Lenore slurped up another spoonful of brother and meatballs before wiping her mouth. "It's really good." She said quietly. "My mom used to make wedding soup all the time."

"Oh, really?"

She nodded, but didn't respond. Instead, her eyes drifted off to the window, where the grey sky had turned even darker and soft thunder could be heard from afar.

"Looks like there's a storm coming in, huh?" Warren stated as he noticed Lenore's direction of attention. Again, she nodded, but didn't really pay any interest. "I love storms, especially during the day."

There was a period of silence, and the only sounds that could be heard came from the restaurant's kitchen.

"Hey," Warren interrupted the silence angrily, and Lenore looked away from the window to see what his fuss was about. His gaze was out the window though. "Is that… Logan?"

She returned her eyes to the window and saw what her lunch buddy was talking about. Logan and Storm, the white-haired lady she had seen only a few times, were angrily trudging up to the restaurant. Lenore wondered if that storm was of nature's doing anymore.

They burst through the entrance of the restaurant, Logan first. He pushed past the hostess and over to their table, attracting the attention of all the other customers in the restaurant, and most of the staff. Storm fell in at his side.

"Lenore, let's go." She said rather sweetly. "Warren, we'll talk later." She said furiously, and thunder rolled outside.

"Look–" He didn't get a chance to protest.

"No excuses, _bub_." Logan interrupted, grabbing the blonde by his collar and pulling him to his feet. "We're going home."

Warren pushed away from Logan and straightened his collar. "Watch it, _Wolverine._ This shirt is cost more than anything you've ever worn in your life."

Lenore stood up and scooted close to Storm's side. "What's going on?" She asked nervously. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, sweetie." Storm assured her, and wrapped an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "C'mon, I'll take you home." She turned toward Logan and Warren. "I trust that you two can restrain from killing each other as long as the car ride home." She said strictly before turning and leaving, her arm still wrapped around Lenore's shoulders.

"Looks like we're taking your ride, kid… though I can't say that I'll be able to hold up 'Ro's proposition."

"You're not the only one." Warren grumbled before following Logan to the door. Before they could leave, though, a man dressed in a waiter's garb stopped them.

"Excuse me, kind sirs." He said politely. "But I don't believe you've paid for your meal yet."

Abruptly, Logan pulled back his fist and with one hard punch, knocked the wait out cold. "Keep the change." He muttered before turning and gesturing for Warren to follow.

[xxxxx]

When they got back to the mansion, Logan and Warren found out from a student that Storm was waiting for them in her office. By now, it was pouring outside and the window shook the trees ever so violently, providing the perfect backdrop as Ororo sat at her desk.

"Where's carrot top?" Logan asked as soon as he sat down at the other side of Storm's desk.

"I assume you're referring to Lenore, and she's with Hank." She said quickly as Warren took his seat next to Logan. "Now, to get down to business, I think you both know the subject that I would like to discuss with both of you." She said with an angry, almost acidic voice.

Neither of them replied.

"I'll take that as a yes." Storm said to herself, and continued. "Lenore is not a _toy_, gentlemen. I cannot seem to fathom what could be so interesting about a little girl that one person would bring themselves to quote, _steal_ her."

"Little girl?" Warren interrupted. "Lenore is twenty-six, from what I've heard."

Storm sighed and stood up. She pulled out a lilac folder from a filing cabinet across the room and handed it to Warren. "I've told you about Control already, but what I _haven't_ told you about her is her relation to Lenore."

"Relation?" Logan asked. "You mean like cousins?"

"Try again, Wolverine," Warren said as he flipped through the folder. "Sisters." He handed him a photo, and Logan's eyes looked over with interest.

It was of two little girls, one with brown hair and the other with bright red. They smiled wide smiles, melted ice cream cones in their hands and all over their freckled faces. He flipped it over, and two names were written –– Adrian and Lenore, .

"Why the hell didn't you tell us about this?" Logan asked furiously after handing the photo back to Warren, who was still flipping through the folder.

"Hank and I have been handling this whole ordeal." She answered calmly. "We decided that the less we told everyone, the safer they would be."

Warren closed up the folder and handed it to Logan, who only threw it onto Storm's desk. "And Lenore… she's not just a youthful soul, is she?"

Storm shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Warren. All the memories of Lenore's life after the age of eight are completely demolished. They were taken by Control."

"Why? What does she want?"

"There's not much more I can tell you. We don't know much. The authorities got hold of Control after she was temporarily weakened by the memory swipe, and they handed her over to us."

There was a silence in the room as Warren and Logan went over all of this sudden information in their minds.

"Do the others know?" Logan asked, interrupting the silence.

"Beast is talking to them right now. You can go join them in his office right now if you'd like. I'm sure he has more details to tell."

With that, she scooted both men out of her office.


	5. Without Control

_"Without control there is uneasiness, but it also allows for the opportunity of creativity and growth."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 4: Without Control**

Elizabeth watched carefully as her younger sister spat out harsh and venomous words to their leader. The two had been at it for almost an hour. The conversation was going nowhere. Elizabeth only watched on out of boredom now.

"Control left _me_ in charge of the Superiors." Camouflage repeated for the hundredth time, her Amazon-like physique towering over Albino's shorter, skinnier physique. "That means you take orders from _me_."

Isabelle, or Albino as she was more commonly referred to, was Elizabeth's sister, who shared the same feisty and determined attitude that ran in the family. She stood with her fists clenched, the muscles that hid beneath her pure white skin tensing. She snarled and her nostrils flared as if she a matador preparing to battle against a bull. "I don't take orders from a Class 2. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a free agent now."

"Alright." Elizabeth whispered, and took a step forward, planning to stop their pointless bickering, but she was stopped by someone. She spun around to face her husband, his brown eyes serious.

"Liz," He whispered as Camouflage and Albino continued to quarrel. "Leave them go. It's better if they resolve this themselves."

Elizabeth yanked her wrist out of her husband's grip. "Will, they're going to kill each other if someone doesn't stop them soon." She stepped forward, and again was stopped by her husband.

"Let go of me, _Hawkeye_." She growled, and he released her. She knew he hated it when she used his mutant name. She approached the two bickering females, but they didn't bother to notice her. Elizabeth took some time to let herself _transition_ into Panther, the fiercer side of her personality. "_Girls_," She hissed as she approached the two, who only now realized her presence. "You're bickering is pointless. Our time would be put to better use if we used it to _find _our leader, rather than debate who will _temporarily_ take her position." She said with a rather snappy, angry tone.

Camouflage and Albino stared at her for a moment, both with completely different expressions on their faces - Camouflage's was one of interest and consideration, and Albino's was arrogant disbelief and annoyance. The former opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted by the latter.

"I'm going for a walk. I need to take a break." The white-haired, red-eyed mutant announced angrily, pushing past Panther and headed for the cage elevator that lead down to the main floor. Both Camouflage and Panther watched her as she left, but neither said anything.

As Camouflage turned herself invisible and no doubt ran off to her room for some privacy, Panther sighed and turned back to where her husband was still standing - in the threshold between the kitchen and the living room.

"William..." She groaned, and fell into his arms. He led her into the kitchen, where he sat her down at the table. "What are we going to do?"

"About what, my dear?" He asked as he poured some steaming hot water from the tea pot into two mugs.

"_About what_? Control, of course!" She sighed and slumped down on the table as William brought over two cups of tea and sat down across from her.

"The woman or the noun?" He asked.

Elizabeth brought her head up and took a first sip of her tea. Too hot. "Both. We've already gone to all of the local prisons and those damned mutant holding facilities, and Control was at none of them. And to add to that, Camouflage is too worried about holding her position to even _do_ anything about it, and I'm the only thing keeping Albino from killing her in her sleep!" She took another sip of her tea despite the temperature. "We're becoming a mess, Will."

"Oh, darling..." William sighed, and reached across the table to hold his wife's hand. "You don't need to worry. Wherever they're keeping Control, they can't hold her for long. She'll be back, and then all will return to normal."

Elizabeth nodded and squeezed his hand. "You're right, sweetie." She paused. "It's getting late. We should get some rest."

[xxxxx]

Albino shut the cage doors to the elevator angrily, but made sure not to catch her finger between the heavy iron. She turned her back to her sister and Camouflage, who she knew were watching her. She didn't want to feel their eyes on her. But that was soon over once she hit the button and the old warehouse elevator rocked its way down to the main floor.

Once she was down stairs, Albino left the elevator and wandered her way to the back of the warehouse. On the main floor, all of the doors and windows of the warehouse were barricaded for security and privacy reasons, and the only other way in and out of the building was known unto only the members of the Superiors.

Tucked away in one of the back rooms of the warehouse was a small room that used to function as an office of some sort. This room was left empty aside from a rather old and musty chair, a wooden desk that had gotten very rotten over the years, and few old newspapers scattered around on the floor. There was also a rug that was rather new compared to the other furniture in the room. Underneath this rug was a trap door that let down into the sewers.

Albino flung open the trap door and flipped on the flashlight that hung on her belt. Ignoring the ladder, she jumped down the "rabbit-hole", as she liked to call it.

As always, the sewer smelt horrible, but she had gotten used to it by now. It was a short walk to the next sewer cover, and Albino climbed out of it with ease. She brushed herself off and covered the manhole back up before starting on her walk.

It was late - almost midnight - but it was normal for Albino to take walks late at night. She always liked to roam the streets of the Mutant District, where the streets were almost abandoned during the night.

"Hey, there beautiful."

_Almost_.

She spun around to face a tall man about her age. He was handsome, and obviously a mutant. His hair was a striking white color, one that rivaled the pure color of hers. He smiled at her and his blue eyes twinkled in the streetlight that they both stood under.

"What do you want, buddy?" She asked in an annoyed tone and crossed her arms.

His smile grew. "Just a bit of your time is all."

Albino narrowed her eyes. "And tell me: what is it you've done to deserve it?"

The man let out a bit of a chuckle. "You _are _feisty, aren't you? I was warned you might be a bit of a struggle."

She bit her lip and she could feel her heart beat rise a bit. "_Warned_? Okay, buddy, you better start explaining yourself right now or -"

"Let's go for a walk, shall we?" He interrupted and took hold her arm, guiding her out of the streetlight and into the shadows of the street.

Albino yanked her arm out of his grasp. "Hold on there, _hotshot_. Who are you and who _warned_ you about me?"

His smile wavered. "Let's just say I know people, alright? And I know way too much information about you for you not to cooperate with me."

Albino lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms skeptically. "Oh, really? Just how much information are we talking about?"

The sighed, as if he was just about to give a speech. "You're name is Isabelle Amelia Barnes. You grew up on Mackinac Island where you're parents owned and operated a vacation home rental service. You have once sister, Elizabeth, and no other siblings. You've never been married but once graduating from Lincoln High you went on to study law at Michigan State University. But during you're senior year-"

"Stop." Albino said, and took a deep, shaky breath. She began to feel the back of her throat dry up. "Who are you?" She whispered to him in a weak, scared voice.

He stepped forward, and touched her arm lightly.

Immediately, she pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" She yelled, still shivering. "Just tell me who you are." She said, returning to her soft and afraid voice.

"There's no reason to be scared, Albino. My name is Quicksilver. I'm here to help." He said in a solid voice. She could tell he wasn't lying.

"I don't need help." She said sternly.

"The Superiors do."

"How do you know all of this?"

Quicksilver sighed. "It'll be easier if you just come with me."

Together they walked back to the Warehouse, and though Albino thought she was leading the way it seemed that Quicksilver knew exactly where he was going.

They stopped in the back alley of the Warehouse, right in front of the doors. Quicksilver leaned in as if to open them, but Albino stopped him.

"You can't get in that way." She told him softly. "All of the doors are barricaded."

He smirked at her, and there was that twinkle in his blue eyes again. "Wanna bet?" Before she could reply, he pushed the door open and held it for her. "Right this way."

She thought about saying something, but anything she could think of sounded stupid and naive, so she walked right past him into the Warehouse.

"You're gonna have to lead the way from here." Quicksilver said as the door swung closed behind him and echoed through the building.

"Follow me." Albino said, and set forward.

She led him into the old cage elevator and pressed the button to go up to the main living quarters. _I shouldn't have brought him here_, she thought to herself as the elevator jerked and soared upward. _Camouflage is going to have a field day biting off my ear..._

* * *

A/N: This chapter and the next were originally just one big chapter, but I decided to split them up just cuz I felt like it. The transition might be a bit rocky, but I at least tried to change it to make it a bit smoother.

Big thanks to **martshi3**, my new Beta. I hail to her! Anywho... check out her stuff. She's got a few cool X-Men stories.

About the title of this chapter - it's supposed to be sort of like a duel meaning with the Superiors (Controls team, if you didn't get that...) losing Control, they end up literally losing control. I just thought that I'd share my totally super cool thoughts... not...

Okay, I'm starting to get angry about people not reviewing... I feel alone and like a loser because I write all of these authors notes and nobody responds! Am I still just typing this right now for no reason? I wanna hear your opinions! T_T


	6. The Superiors Make New Friends

_"Enemies make you stronger, allies make you weaker."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 5: The Superiors Make New Friends**

When the elevator reached the desired floor, there were unfamiliar voices coming from the next room that she felt had something to do with the mysterious man that stood to her right. Quicksilver stepped out of the elevator first, but Albino listened to the mumbled voices for a moment.

He turned back to face her. "Are you coming?" He whispered, as if not to disturb the voices. "Or are you chicken?"

Without at word she stepped forward and followed Quicksilver into the next room. Out of instinct, she grabbed onto his hand and though he looked at her a little funny, he didn't say anything.

As they turned the corner into the living room, Albino laid her eyes on the owners of those unfamiliar voices.

There were seven people sitting about the couches and recliners, three of which were the rest of the Superiors, and the remaining four were strangers, but obviously mutants.

The one talking was an older man that sat in the large chair that was usually reserved for Camouflage. He was dressed in red and purple robes, and had an oddly-shaped helmet cradled in his lap. Although she could only see half of his face, the man was quite handsome, and of obvious relation to Quicksilver. He spoke sternly and with authority, and Albino guessed that he was the leader of these four strangers.

The second was a woman, very odd in appearance. She stood next to the leader, and wore a loose white dress that didn't cover up much of her blue, scaly skin. She was the only one that seemed to take notice of Albino and Quicksilver as they entered, her yellow reptilian eyes scanning over her with interest. Her pin-straight hair was a striking red, and barely touched her shoulders.

The third was a boy that looked about in his late teens that lounged on the end of a couch, next to Panther and Hawkeye. He continuously fiddled with a small silver zippo lighter, but it was quickly snatched out of his hands by the fourth stranger.

She stood behind the couch with her arms crossed, the zippo lighter clenched in her fist. She had dark brown, curly hair that looked unkempt and bright blue eyes. She wore her outfit was a dark red leather trench coat that seemed to be fitted to her body. Covering her feet were a pair of black combat boots on top of mismatching striped socks.

Quicksilver lead her to the only available seats - an open couch that seemed to be reserved for them. She let go of his hand once they sat down and scooted away, hoping no one had noticed.

"We plan to be ready within a week. Any objections?" The leader with the helmet in his hands said, looking out amongst the other mutants.

Albino was confused, but she didn't say anything.

"But how can you be sure that the X-Men have her?" Panther asked. It was so like her to question things. "Perhaps you mistook another mutant-"

"One of my team members went undercover as a student at the institute just to confirm our suspicions. I can assure you, my dear, that we have found her."

"You've found Control?" Albino whispered to Quicksilver beside her, making sure not to interrupt the conversation.

"We have. I'll explain everything to you afterward." He whispered back.

After a bit more talk, Panther made some tea for everyone while the mysterious red and purple leader and Camouflage disappeared into Control's office. The combat-boot girl, the blue scaly lady and Panther all talked in the kitchen while Hawkeye, the creepy flame-boy and Quicksilver saddled up to start a game of Clue.

Not wishing to join either party, Albino slipped out of the room and was just about to step into the elevator when Quicksilver abruptly appeared in from of her. She was confused about his sudden presence for a moment, but then smirked. "Lemme guess - teleporter?"

He smirked back. "Close... super speed." He let her pass him to the elevator, but followed her in.

"That would explain the name, then." she said as the elevator jerked upward, toward her bedroom.

"So," Quicksilver said in a chipper tone. "What do you think?"

"Of what?"

"Of everything. Of the plan, of the team... of our _extremely_ impressive tracking skills." He said the last bit with some hint of sarcasm.

"I think I'm utterly confused." She admitted simply. The old elevator shuttered to a stop and Albino pulled the cage door open. The room they stepped into looked like an abandoned office space. It was mostly barren, cement support beams taking up most of the room. Two lonely mattresses were stacked one on top of the other in the middle of the room, many pillows and blankets scattered on top. Surrounding the makeshift bed was a dresser, a full length mirror and a floor lamp that gave off weak lighting. Secluded to the right was a couch, a television and a coffee table, all of which looked to be unused. To the left was a desk and a chair that seemed to be the most popularly used space in the room.

"Whoa," Quicksilver commented as she led him inside. "You've got the whole floor to yourself. Nice."

"Everybody has their own floor. It's a pretty big warehouse." She led him to the couch, where they both sat down. "So," Albino said. "De-confuse me."

"Well," He started, and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. "You know who that man downstairs was, don't you? The one that was talking about the plan?"

"No. I didn't recognize him at all." Albino furrowed her brow. "Should I have?"

"If you didn't recognize him, you'd at least have to have heard of him." He paused. "That man was Magneto."

At first, Albino just stared at him. "That... downstairs... that man... was _Magneto_?" She asked disbelievingly.

He knew the question was rhetorical, but Quicksilver nodded anyway.

Still, she stared at him blankly. "You sure we're talking about the same Magneto here? Master of magnetism, the main mutant man? All those M words you can have so much fun with?"

Quicksilver raised an eyebrow. "You may want to rethink that line."

Albino continued on. "But... Magneto's..." She took a breath. "After he lost his powers, Magneto fell off the face of the earth. I mean... he's _human _now. Why is he back dealing with mutants?"

He leaned in closer to her and smiled. "Albino, babe... He never _lost _his powers."

"What?"

"Sure, maybe he lost them for a few months, but now he's got his mojo back and he's more powerful than _ever._" He talked in a low, hushed voice that managed to still sound excited.

Albino found herself holding Quicksilver's hand again, but this time she didn't let go. "So, the cure doesn't work."

He smiled. "That's right. Well, it _does _work for a few months, but after that, it only makes us _stronger_."

She also smiled. Since the second stage of her mutation - since her skin turned white and her eyes turned red, Albino always feared being cured by some crazy anti-mutant hate group, but now all of her fears were wiped away. "That's wonderful." She said at last, still smiling.

"Now, don't get distracted, babe." Quicksilver said, bringer her attention back to him. "Now, Magneto's got a little plan cooked up for rescuing you're leader, whatsername..."

"Control." Albino answered.

"Right... Control. Well, he's got a plan, and it's gonna take a lot of teamwork but not much sole effort on our part. Now listen here..."

[xxxxx]

By the time she understood this 'little' plan that Magneto had for them, Albino was exhausted. She slouched over the coffee table and massaged her aching temples while Quicksilver drew up a map of Xavier Institute's main grounds on the side of a Campbell's soup ad in her _Good Housekeeping _magazine.

"Why do you even own this magazine?" Quicksilver asked as he continued to draw his rough sketch of the mansion.

"I dunno..." Albino grumbled, and yawned. "Prob'ly came free in the mail. 'Sides, I like to look at the nice houses. Reminds me of Mackinac Island."

"Here we are." Quicksilver said once he was finished with the sketch. Albino lifted herself from the floor and sat down next to him on the couch. "Okay, so here's where we enter from. We'll cross at _exactly_ this point so that the intruder alarms don't -"

"Quicksilver..." Albino sighed. "It's _three _a.m., I'm exhausted and I don't sleep well. There is no way I'm going to understand any of this, let alone remember it all. Can't we just pick this up tomorrow?"

He looked at her for a moment, then shut the magazine and threw it down on the coffee table. "Of course."

She smiled. "_Thank_ you." She said with a sigh of relief.

"On one condition." He added, his tone serious.

"_Anything,_" She exhaled. "As long as there's no more of this strategic planning torture."

He drew closer to her. "Sleep with me tonight."

"What!" She exclaimed, and stood up. "I barely know you!" Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared, as they always did when she was angry.

"Oh, c'mon..." Quicksilver grumbled and also stood. He towered over her. "You've been coming on to me the _whole_ night. Holding my hand, whispering in my ear, brushing your hair against me _ever _so gently... the list goes on."

Albino scoffed. "Okay, the hand-holding thing was a bit flirty, but I was whispering because I didn't feel like asking dumb questions in front of total strangers. And I did _not _brush my hair against you."

"Oh, just admit it." She said, rolling his eyes at her dramatic reaction. "You _want _me. You want me in your bed, grinding into your hips while you can only run your hands through my hair and _beg_ for more. You-"

"Stop right there." She said softly. She stepped forward so that she was right up against him, looking up into his deep blue eyes with a blank expression. "**Get _out!_**" She screamed abruptly, startling him and even herself.

Without words, Quicksilver was gone in a gush of wind, and the sound of the cage elevator was the last thing to be heard of him. Albino, exhausted, collapsed onto her bed, not realizing what she'd have to deal with in the morning.

* * *

Beta'd by **martshi3**. Check her out!

R&R? Pretty please?


	7. Midnight Snacks

_"There's a funny thing about food... it sort of brings people together."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 6: Midnight Snacks**

Most nights, Logan found it hard to sleep. Usually he would roam the mansion and return to his room around two, where he proceeded to fall unconscious and still manage to wake up in time for classes. It was almost three o'clock now and he still couldn't manage to calm himself down enough to sleep. He'd already checked on Lenore twice and made his rounds around the mansion the same number of times. It was now his third trip around the mansion and for the first time he noticed that the light in the main kitchen was on.

He waltzed in and saw that Rogue was seated at the counter, a bowl full of half-melted ice cream in front of her. Her eyes were far off, as if she was worlds away.

"Hey Rogue," He said casually as she took a seat next to her at the island. She didn't respond.

"She's been like that all night."

Logan turned around to face an unfamiliar kid who sat at the breakfast table, playing with a deck of cards. "No one's really tried to bother her." He was in his young teens, with a mop of red hair that sat awkwardly on his head.

"Scram." Logan said in a harsh tone. "Or you'll be runnin' laps 'til the sun comes up."

Quickly, the kid gathered up his playing cards and rushed out of the kitchen. Logan smirked before turning back to Rogue, who was still staring off into nowhere.

"Rogue?" He tried again and shook her. "C'mon, I know you can hear me. He shook her again, this time more forcefully.

She jolted awake with a gasp, and turned to face Logan. "Oh... Ah'm sorry..." She said lightly, shaking her head and blinking rapidly. "I didn't see you there, Logan."

"You okay?" He asked, looking at her with a concerned expression. "You don't look too good, y'know."

Rogue shrugged. "Ah guess Ah've just been feelin' a bit sick lately... Ah'm just..." Her voice trailed off and she sighed before turning her attention back to her melted ice cream and taking a slurp.

"You've just what?" He asked, staring straight at her as she avoided any sort of eye contact.

She didn't say anything for a long time. She just sat there, staring at the ice cream until the sound of the old grandfather clock across the hallway chimed. Then she stood and dropped her bowl into the sink before turning back to Logan.

"Ah'm wondering, Logan..." Rogue said, still standing by the sink. She gulped, and he could see that she was fighting back tears. "Y'know, maybe Ah don't belong here anymore."

Logan stood. "What are ya talkin' about?"

She shrugged. "This is a school for mutants, Logan, and Ah ain't a mutant anymore." She sighed and continued to avoid eye contact.

He furrowed his brow. "Did somebody say something' to you? Was it that Jake kid?" He stepped forward. "'Cause if somebody's been threatenin' you, I'm more than willin' to-"

"Logan, nobody threatened me." She said fiercely, and gulped. "Ah told ya... ah just..." She paused and sighed again. "Everybody else who got the cure went back home. Ah'm the only one who stayed. Ah mean, nobody's sayin' anythin', but Ah can just tell... how they look at me." She looked away.

Logan stood next to her and crossed his arms. "Look, Rogue... I know how it is to feel like you don't belong. Like ya... well, like ya ain't welcome. I think all mutants do." He scoffed. "Look kid, I'm no good at all this touchy-feely shit, but... just promise me ya ain't gonna do anythin' stupid, okay?"

He saw that she was actually smiling. "Don't worry, Logan. Ah think Ah'll be okay."

"And ya aren't gonna do anything stupid?"

She nodded. "Nothin' stupid. Ah promise." Without another word, Rogue trotted out of the kitchen and out of sight.

Logan sighed and plopped down at the kitchen table. He ran one hand through his hair and slumped down. Rogue didn't need him much anymore, and now that he was looking after Lenore, he didn't have much time or tolerance for both of them. But if Rogue came crying back to him, he might have to start charging for his time.

"Logan?"

He sat up and turned to see Storm standing in the doorway, looking more tired than he had ever seen her. "Why are you up so late?" she asked, walking over to the table and taking a seat across from him.

Logan shrugged carelessly. "Couldn't sleep, I guess." He gave her a once-over, studying the messy Ororo that he didn't get to see that often. "What about you?"

"I couldn't sleep either. It's just all this hype with Control and... I'm just had a bad dream." She looked away, out the window at the crescent moon.

There was a silence, but it was more calm than awkward.

"We're going to be having a guest tomorrow morning." She announced abruptly, still staring out the window.

"What?" Logan said.

"Tomorrow morning." Storm repeated. "Hank and I have invited a psychologist to come over and evaluate Lenore's mental health."

He took a deep breath, trying not to get too angry. "Her mental health?" He said, all but growling. "This psychologist... you know him well?"

"_Her._ I don't know her, but she and Hank are good friends. He says that she is trustworthy." She paused. "She's a mutant." She added.

"Whether she's a mutant or not makes no difference. You know who else is a mutant? Magneto. We don't trust him last time I-"

"Logan," Storm interrupted sternly. "It's too late for this. Just have Lenore in my office by noon tomorrow morning. Then you can complain as much as your little heart desires." She stepped up from the table. "Good night." With that, she left the kitchen, leaving Logan alone.

He watched her as she left, then turned back to face the window. "Damn shrinks." He grunted. He thought about heading back to bed, but he was too angry to fall asleep.

* * *

Just a sort of fluffy chapter. Not really necessary, but I wanted to put it in anyway.

Thanks again to my beta, **martshi3**.


	8. Division 56

_"My psychology belongs to everyone."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 7: Division 56**

She was pretty. There was no doubting that. But could he trust her? Logan had to admit, there was most definitely a level of doubt in that.

He watched her intently, studying her expression, movements and memorizing her scent. She was serious, but always polite. Her smile was wide and brilliant, but not to an excessive degree. The way her fingers twitched every so lightly and her eyes jumped around the tiny room that they both sat in was a distinct indication that she was nervous, probably because he was watching her so carefully.

"I'm sorry," She snapped, her eyes turning to him, fierce with annoyance. "Do you need something?"

Logan kept himself from smirking. "No," He said calmly, his eyes still fixed on her face. "I'm fine. Thanks for askin', though."

She shook her head in annoyance and then rested it in her palm.

At that moment, the door to the small, white-washed room opened and storm entered, Lenore following closely behind her.

"Hello," The pretty woman said as she stood from the table to shake Lenore's hand. "My name is Mrs. Barrington, but you may call me Samantha."

Lenore shook Samantha's hand reluctantly, looking up at her smiling face nervously. "My name is Lenore." She paused. "You can call me Lenore." She said, her eyes darting around the room to Logan's face, who couldn't help but smirk at her subtle jab at this Samantha broad.

"Lenore, why don't you take a seat?" Storm suggested, and Lenore sat down across from Samantha at the table - the only furniture in the room. "Mrs. Barrington is just going to ask a few questions, okay?" She said, and Lenore nodded.

"Logan." Storm commanded in a much harsher voice, gesturing to the door.

Reluctantly, he moved from his leaning position against the wall and followed Storm out of the room, whom shut the door behind them. Lenore waved to him as she left. He wished he could stay to witness Samantha's little interrogation with Lenore, but he knew Storm would just get pissed at him later if he tried to eavesdrop. Apparently, it was supposed to be a 'private' session.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" He asked once he and Storm were out in the hallway. There was no one around to hear their conversation, luckily.

Storm rolled her eyes. "She has a son that goes here. You might know him - Jake Barrington?"

Logan growled. "Oh, yeah. I know him - Jake the Snake."

"Jake the what?"

"Jake the Snake." He repeated. "That's his nickname. He's sneaky, conniving... like a snake."

Disbelievingly, Storm raised an eyebrow.

Logan continued anyway. "Y'know, just last week I caught him and his three little minions trying to-"

"Logan," She sharply cut him off. "That's insignificant. What's your point?"

"Like they say - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Storm rolled her eyes before turning away and disappearing around the corner, cutting off their conversation for the umpteenth time.

[xxxxx]

Under the table, Lenore played with her hands nervously, avoiding any eye contact with the woman that sat across the table from her.

"So, Lenore, how has your day been so far?" Samantha asked in a polite, soft voice.

She looked up for a brief moment to answer the question. "It's been fine. Normal." She paused. "How are you?"

Samantha smiled. "I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Her voice was again overly polite.

It grew quiet and Lenore began to play with her hands again. She bit her lip, not knowing what to say, or if she should have even said anything at all.

"Do you like it here at the institute?" Samantha asked quietly.

Lenore looked up and nodded. "Yeah. A lot."

"What's your favorite part?"

She smiled. "I like going to the library. It's quiet there and it smells really good."

Samantha smirked. "What does it smell like?"

She shrugged and looked away for a moment - out the lonely window to her right. "I don't know. It kind of smells like Christmas."

She furrowed her brow. "Like Christmas?"

Lenore nodded. "Mhm." She confirmed. "You know the way the tree smells? Then the kitchen always smells like cookies and gingerbread men. And everybody's always happy." She smiled and shrugged. "It smells like Christmas."

"Oh, I see..." Samantha nodded, but Lenore could tell that she didn't understand. "Tell me, Lenore, do you like Christmas?"

She continued to smile. "It's my favorite holiday. How can you not like Christmas? It's so much fun!"

"Yes, yes it is. What do you and your family usually do on Christmas, Lenore?"

"Mom usually makes chocolate pancakes for everybody after we open our presents. Then we go to my aunt's house for a party. All of our family is there and it's always really fun."

Samantha wrote something down in the notebook that sat in front of her. Lenore tried to peak and see what she was writing, but she stopped and covered up the notebook before she got a chance to. "Does your sister go with you?"

Lenore shook her head, not understanding. "What?" She asked.

"Your sister," Samantha repeated. "Does she go with your family to breakfast and to the party? You... do have a sister, correct?"

"Oh," She said, understanding now. "Yes. She does, but she doesn't like to. Adrian always complains in the car."

Samantha chuckled lightly. "Yes. Siblings tend to do that."

"Do you have a sister?" Lenore asked, turning the interrogation around.

"No, but I have a younger brother. I'm two years older than him."

"What's his name?"

She paused for a moment, looking reluctant. "His name is Jacob."

Lenore smiled. "I used to have a dog named Jacob."

There was yet another odd, awkward silence as Samantha made a few notes in her notebook, and Lenore began to play with her hands again.

Abruptly, Samantha stood and gathered her things - a notebook, a few pens and a thick, squarish book "I have to go now, Lenore, but Storm will be back in a little while. It was nice talking to you."

She shook Lenore's hand, then quietly left, leaving Lenore all alone in the tiny white-washed room.

[xxxxx]

It wasn't much, everything she had gotten, but it was enough. She couldn't make a detailed psychoanalysis with it, but she could tell some things.

Samantha stepped out into the hallway with her things in hand, and looked around. She caught sight of the scruffy-looking man hanging around down the hallway - the one who had refrained from giving her his name. Ms. Munroe was nowhere in sight.

"I'm finished." She said as she approached the scruffy man. His head turned, and she could see that he held a cigar in between his lips. "Are you smoking? In a school?" She asked disbelievingly, eyeing the cigar.

Scruffy hid the cigar behind his back. "No." He answered simply.

Samantha shook her head and ignored the cigar. "Have you seen Ms. Munroe? I have to give her my report."

"Report?" He raised an eyebrow skilfully and put a watchful eye on her. "What report?" He asked.

Quickly, she hid the notebook behind her back. "If you don't know already, then I'm not sure if I should tell you."

He stepped toward her, and she took a step away from him. "What's behind your back?" He asked, seeing that she was holding something behind her.

"Logan!"

They both spun around to face Ororo, who was walking towards them in an angry and rushed manner.

Logan... that must be his name. Yes, that's what Ms. Munroe called him back in the conference room. Logan's an Irish name. Samantha snuck a glance at him. He doesn't look Irish.

"Take Mrs. Barrington to my office." Ororo told Logan once she had reached them. "I'm going to take Lenore back to her room. I'll meet you there." She pushed past Samantha and Logan, and they both watched as she retrieved Lenore from the tiny conference room and sped off in the other direction.

"This way." Logan said in a monotone voice. He gestured for Samantha to follow him before leisurely waltzing down the hall. She followed closely behind.

"So," He said once they were a ways down the hall. "What is this report-thing that you were talking about before?"

"I told you," Samantha said, annoyance overtaking her voice. "If you don't already know why I'm here, then I shouldn't tell you."

They reached the stairs, which Logan descended quickly, Samantha trying to keep up. When they reached the lower level, she walked at his side rather than behind him.

"So the report has to do with why you're here?"

Samantha bit her lip. "Of course." She said coolly.

Logan smirked as they stopped in front of a thick wooden door. He opened it up to reveal a lavish office that she guessed to be Ororo's. They stepped inside, and Samantha took a seat in one of the two chairs across from Ororo's desk while Logan chose to stand.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence, until the door opened and Ororo stepped inside. She quickly took a seat at her desk. "Dr. Barrington," She said with a smile. "How was your session with Lenore?"

"It went very well."

"Do you have anything that we could use?" She asked, her smile disappearing.

Samantha shrugged. "Lenore is young, but she knows not to share information with strangers. It's hard to tell if she's suffered any permanent psychological damage from her encounter with Control, but her condition doesn't seem to be irreversible. We'd just need a trusted and skilled telepath to perform the sprout. I can't be sure of anything, though. I would have to establish a stable relationship with her before being able to confirm much else. Either that, or..." Her eyes turned to Logan. "We have someone she already trusts perform the interrogation."

Storm also looked to Logan. "Well?" She asked.

Finally getting a clue, he raised an eyebrow in question. "Me?" He asked disbelievingly. "No, no... I'm just the babysitter. If you wanna interview the lil' bit, I suggest you go to ol' Angel-wing. He's seemed to win her affections."

"For God's sake, Logan... can't you just suck it up and take one for the team?" Storm asked in an annoyed voice.

He scoffed "Take one for the team? Do you know how many ones I have taken for the team? I've taken more beatings tha-"

Before he could finish, Samantha interrupted. "It's okay, Storm. If Logan doesn't want to do it, he doesn't have to." She nodded. "I'm willing to help in any way I can. A few more sessions with Lenore and we should be getting somewhere."

This time Logan interrupted. "You think that a few more days in the therapy chair's gonna knock Control's gang on their asses? Even if we reverse this little problem Lenore has, what's stopping them from coming back and slurping up her memories again? We need action, not hugs and friend-making. I say we figure out what Control was up to and try to stop her team from finishing the rest of the job."

"And what do you suggest?" Samantha snapped back. "We torture the telepath into spilling the beans?" She suggested and crossed her arms.

Logan shrugged. "I've never tried Chinese water torture before." He said with a smirk.

Samantha scoffed and turned away from him. "Ororo, please tell Lenore that our sessions have ended for the day. I'll be returning in a few hours with my luggage." She stood and turned before giving a condescending look to Logan whilst brushing out of the room.

"I'll have a room ready for you when you come back." Storm called as she left. She stood and sighed toward Logan. "I know you're concerned with Control's plans, but I'm more concerned with Lenore. She's twenty-seven years old with the mind of a child. How will she ever live her life normally?"

"We're mutants, 'Ro." He replied. "We're not supposed to live normally, if there is such a thing."

"Logan," Storm sighed and sat back down in her chair. "Get out."

With a huff, he left the office and shut the door behind him. "Women..." He growled to himself as he raised his eyebrows and headed down the hall.

* * *

Thanks again to **martshi3**, my awesome Beta!

Don't think it was mentioned in the chapter, but Sam's a psychologist, hence the name of this chapter. And if you don't get the title chapter, it's the 56th division of APA. And since I'm going to start listing the authors of these quotes, the quote is by Alfred Adler.

Please! If you're reading this, please review! It doesn't even have to be anything deep! Just "Hey, somebody's actually reading you're piece of crap!" Please? God, I am too desperate...


	9. Curses and Gifts

"It's a gift... and a curse."

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 8: Curses and Gifts  
**

Even in her ripe age, Samantha Barrington had never gotten used to life in the city. She had grown up on a farm in Idaho and the closest she had gotten to the city before the age of nineteen was when her cousins from Boise visited. But despite her dislike for the city, as that's where work was and wherever work remained, was where Samantha was.

And now that she was back in the countryside, away from the city, it felt great. The air was fresh, the water was clean and best of all and the stars were visible at night. Of course, she had yet to see those stars, but Ororo had told her about the wonderful view from the east side of the mansion.

Samantha smiled and hummed as she unpacked the clothing out of her suitcases and into her closet.

The room was nice and neat and had a unique floral scent that different from the rest of the mansion. The only thing that she didn't like was her neighbor - that awful man, Logan. She would do her best to get along, but something about him was just so intolerable.

There was a knock at the door and Samantha called, "One moment please!" She covered up all the unmentionables that lay visible, just in case someone was to catch a glimpse of them.  
She swung the door open to reveal Dr. Hank McCoy, an old and dear friend of hers.

"Hank!" She said in surprise, and smiled brightly. They hugged and Samantha led him into her room. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you taught!" She sat down on a pair of twin arm chairs in the corner of the room.

"I was actually a student of Xavier's for some time." He said. "I'm been here a few years now, working with the X-Men."

She looked at him, confused. "I'm sorry, did you say the... X-Men?

"Yes, is that a problem?" He paused. "Wait... no, surely you've heard of the X-Men."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry Hank, but I've never heard of such a thing."

"The X-Men," He began to explain. "Are a team - a superhero team, if you will - founded by Charles Xavier to enforce his dream of a world where humans and mutants could live together in peace."

Samantha stared at him for a moment, then burst out into a fit of laughter. "You actually go me there for a second, with the-"

"Sam, I'm being completely serious." Hank said staring at her like she was the one with blue fur covering her face.

She stared at him again. "I knew there were mutant vigilantes, but... you? Hank, you're not a superhero! You're a scientist for God's sake! You're place is in a laboratory, not running around in spandex with Reed Richards or whoever else-"

"Reed Richards is actually a very good friend of mine."

She sighed. "My point is, Hank, that..." She said, but suddenly stopping herself. "Wait... Logan, Ororo... they're all X-Men, too, aren't they?"

He nodded.

"And..." She paused. "This school... is a training center for these... X-Men."

Again, he nodded.

"You're training children to become superheroes?"

Hank stood. "No, no... that's not it at all." He put his hands up in protest.

Samantha also stood. "I thought this was a well-rounded school that educated mutants not train them like expendable soldiers!" She yelled angrily, no doubt attracting unwanted attention from outside the room.

"Sam, listen..."

"And... my God! My son! Do the other parents even know Hank?" She continued in the same angry tone. "Have you even told them that they're children are mutants?"

"Samantha!" Hank yelled at last. He had her attention, but she seemed a bit shocked by his tone. He adjusted his tie and cleared his throat before continuing in a much calmer tone. "Let me explain, Sam." He paused, and she nodded for him to go on. "The students have nothing to do with the X-Men besides the fact that we teach their classes. They choose whether they would like to join the team or move on to live an average life. We aren't training them for anything but to live a normal life with their powers in control."

For a few seconds, Samantha stared at him doe-eyed. "Oh." She said simply and looked away from her old friend for a moment. "I'm sorry, Hank. It's just been a rough past year. I don't think I could take any more... surprises." She slumped back down in her chair and sighed.

Hank also sad down. "Yes... I heard about Howard." He paused. "You have my condolences."

"It's the natural way of things, Hank. It was going to happen sooner or later. I'm just so angry that I didn't see it until it was too late."

"You... saw it? My God, that must have been horrible."

"Hank, you have no idea." He could hear the tears swelling in her voice. "I've been better lately, though." She sat up straight and sucked up her tears. "Now that Jacob's staying here."

She was cut off when the door flung open and Logan appeared at the door looking frantic. "Hank, come quick." He disappeared.

Hank gave Samantha a quick, confused glance before following after Logan down the hall. She hurried out of bedroom right behind him, and they caught up with Logan quickly.

"What is it?" Hank asked.

They all walked so fast that they might as well have been running.

"It's Bobby... and Rogue." They turned a corner and a ways down the hall, there was a boy lying down on the floor. A man was hunched over him, performing CPR.

"Oh my!" Samantha explained.

They all ignored her and Hank rushed to the boy's side.

"He's breathing!" The man performing CPR exclaimed. Samantha took a sigh of relief.

Quickly, Hank scooped the boy up. "Logan, go get Ororo and tell her to meet me in the infirmary. Kurt, Samantha stay with Rogue." With that, Hank rushed down the hall one way and Logan down the other.

Confused, Samantha turned to the other man - the one who had been doing CPR. She shook his hand as he introduced himself, "Kurt Wagner." It was only then that she noticed his relatively thick German brogue.

"Samantha Barrington." She said with a quick sigh, and a nod.

Kurt also nodded, but they disappeared into the open door - the room that the boy had been lying outside of. She followed him in.

Inside, it was a teenage girl's bedroom. Perfume and make-up were scattered atop the dresser and the walls were decorated with posters of every rock band from Led Zeppelin to Pearl Jam. Sitting on the bed was a girl of about sixteen with long, dark brown hair and pure white bangs. She sat with her legs crossed and her back hunched over her legs.

"Rogue," Kurt said, sitting next to the girl and laying his hand softly on her shoulder.

She jolted when he touched her and smacked his hand away. On both of her hands were two long, thick gloves. "Stop!" She screamed in a rather high-pitched tone. Her face was splotched in tears. "Don't touch me!" She screamed again.

"Rogue, what happened?" Kurt tried again in an even softer tone. He stepped forward.

"Get out!" Rogue screamed once again.

Suddenly, Samantha felt a bitter chill run over her body - the kind that she always felt right before a vision of the past...

She was in the same room, but her vision was black and white and there was no sound, but this was normal in her day visions.

The girl was there, the once who Kurt had called Rogue, along with Bobby, the boy who had gone unconscious. He held Rogue in his arms as they stood by the window, gazing out. She said something to him and he replied before cupping her face in his hand. They kissed lightly, still holding each other.

Samantha smiled at their young romance, remembering her own youthful...

Suddenly, Bobby fell to the floor and Rogue looked down at him in horror. She backed into a corner and hugged herself. Samantha didn't have to have hearing in order to tell that she was screaming.

Logan rushed into the room, followed by Kurt...

Samantha's vision faded back into real time and the faded cries of Rogue soon grew into loud ear-splitting screams. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and then saw that Kurt was still, unsuccessfully, trying to calm Rogue down.

"Kurt," She called over Rogue's screams, seeing that his efforts were useless. She gestured to the door and they both left in a bit of a rush. Out in the hallway, some students had gathered to see what the commotion was all about, but they quickly shooed them away.

Samantha strode alongside Kurt as they walked away from Rogue's room. "What's... wrong with her? Rogue, I mean." She said whilst looking down at Kurt who was short in stature, compared to her Amazonian figure.

He looked away and paused, as if he wasn't sure if he should tell her. "Rogue's powers tend to cause some complications." He sighed. "When Rogue makes skin contact with someone, she uncontrollably absorbs their life force, memories and powers. She has the potential to put someone into a coma or worse."

"Then why did she kiss that boy? Shouldn't she have known better?"

Kurt paused again. "Rogue was cured."

"Then why...?" Samantha paused to think. If the cure had failed for Rogue, then that meant other mutants who had been cured also had the potential for their powers to return. Mutants like Magneto.

She stayed silent as Kurt led her down the hallway and down the stairs to the main floor. They walked a ways into the core of the building, where they stopped in front of a random space in the wall. She was just about to ask why they had stopped when Kurt touched a certain place on the wall and it slid open to reveal a small elevator. Without asking any questions, they both stepped inside.

The elevator descended and reopened only a few seconds later. They stepped out into the most unexpected place Samantha had ever been in. It was completely different from the upper levels. Instead of carved mahogany and classy decorations, these halls were made of steel and absolutely barren. There were long hallways to both the left and the right and both were empty and eerily silent. Instantly, she knew this was the base of the X-Men.

Kurt led her through the maze of hallways. After a few turns, they passed through a circular doorway that automatically slid open as they walked through, and shut behind them.  
Inside was what looked to be a small clinic. Medical beds took up most of the room, and the bed closest to the door was occupied by Bobby, still unconscious. Hank stood at his bedside, adjusting the IV drip. Logan and Ororo stood in the corner of the room, discussing in inaudible whispers.

"How is he?" Kurt asked as he and Samantha approached the bed.

Hank sighed and looked down at Bobby. "He's stable, but he'll need a few days for physical recovery. Psychological recovery may take longer." He looked to Samantha.

"I'm willing to help him with therapy, if need be." Samantha said. Personally, she would prefer not to. She was a psychoanalyst, not a shrink.

"I'm more worried about Rogue's psychological health right now. Remember what happened last time she almost killed someone?" Kurt said.

"What happened?" Samantha asked curiously.

Hank ignored her. "Rogue won't run, I can guarantee you that. Now that her powers are back, she knows this is the only safe place for her." He paused.

"If she does run, I'll find her. I always have." Logan stood at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed, Storm next to him. He stared at Bobby intensely.

"What do you suggest we do for Rogue, Samantha? Will she need anything?" Storm asked.

She took a moment to think. "Rogue's exerting the typical behavior of a girl her age after any type of trauma. She wants to be alone, feels she needs to be isolated. We need to take the appropriate measures to make sure that she doesn't develop PTSD or any other type of trauma-related disorder."

"And what would those measures be?"

"We cannot let her be alone, no matter how much she screams or yells. She needs to be surrounded by people she trusts. I also suggest you move her from her room to avoid flashbacks of the event. Keep her active, eating healthy, but I do suggest you cut some or all of her classes. Any added stress may-"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Logan said, shaking his head. All eyes turned to him. "She absorbed a few memories, powers... so what? She'll be fine on her own. You're actin' like she just got home from war or something."

"To Rogue, this may seem like war." Samantha said in consequence. "Not only did she almost kill her friend, she has her powers back. She's found that the single escape from her own personal hell was only false hope. She trusted this cure and it failed her. Rogue may never see trust the same."

There was an eerie silence that filled the room, and the only sound was the soft beeping of the heart monitor.

"Alright," Storm said, breaking the silence. "Right now, our top priorities are to keep Rogue healthy and Bobby alive. Hank, I want you to monitor Bobby - we can take shifts watching him, feeding him and whatever else he needs."

Hank nodded.

"Kurt, I want you and Warren to take shifts watching Lenore and keeping gossip down. Got it?"

"Natürlich." Kurt said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Samantha jumped a bit when he did, but then the only thing that bothered her was that stench of brimstone and ash that he left behind.

Storm turned to Samantha. "I need you to make sure Rogue's alright. Sam, do anything you need to help her. We can supply any medications or resources you need." Her eyes turned to Logan. "Logan, just talk to her. Try to calm her down, tell her everything's alright."

He nodded, and Storm smiled before turning back to Bobby's bed.

"C'mon, Doc." Logan said before grabbing Samantha by the wrist and pulling her out of the medical bay.

"Hey!" Sam yelled as he dragged her down the hallway. She tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he was too strong. "Let go of me!" She complained.

"As you wish." He grumbled, and released her arm.

Instantly, because of the way she was leaning away from him, Samantha fell to the ground. She grunted as she got up and brushed off her sweater. "Barbarian!" She hissed before brushing her dark hair behind her shoulder and walking past him.

Logan smirked and followed after her.

* * *

Edited by **martshi3**, my Beta - I am forever grateful.

If you're wondering the quote is from _Monk_, one of my most favoritest TV shows ever. If you watch the show, the chapter seems to become a little bit lighter, eh?

Anywho... thank you to **sweetas3point14** for being my first reviewer who I actually do not know in real life. Oh, don't worry... Rachel, if you're reading this, I still love you. Keep 'em coming!


	10. Survival of the Species

_"We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love, power, freedom and fun."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 9: Survival of the Species  
**

As was usual in the hours after classes, the living room was filled with kids of all ages, goofing off when they should have been doing their homework.

Some kids huddled around the Foosball table, fighting for their turn, while the rest gathered on and around the couch, all trying to grab for the remote.

The current holder of the remote was a dark-haired teenager known as Jake Barrington, or Jake the Snake, as he preferred.

"Gimme the remote, Jake." One girl pouted. She was about ten, and small even for her young age. "I wanna watch Hannah Montana."

"Shut up, Lydia." Jake said, trying to concentrate on the news. "They're saying something about the cure."

"I don't care! Hannah Montana!" Lydia said, and lunged for the remote.

She was too slow, because before she could even flinch, Jake had it floating in the air far above both of their heads.

"No fair! You're using you're powers!" She pouted.

"Oh, bite me."

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him before running behind the TV and pulling out a cable. The news anchor disappeared and the screen went black.

"Hey!" Jake called, standing up. Some other kids who had also been watching TV chased her out of the room, so he stayed behind. Otherwise, he'd be after that little brat in an instant.

"Guys!"

He spun around to the main doorway, where Tabby Smith, one of his gang, was walking into the room. He met her near the doorway, along with the rest of his gang - Amy Burrows and Evan Daniels. None of the other kids seemed to notice them.

"D'joo guys hear about Rogue?" Tabby said in a sort of a whisper, as if not to attract the other students' attention.

"No. What happened?" Amy asked.

"Well, I heard from Colleen Cameron that Wendy Suppers told Duncan Schuler she saw Professor McCoy carrying Bobby Drake down to the basement and that he looked like he was _dead_."

Amy gasped "Beast is dead?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"No, _Bobby's_ dead, you idiot."

"What happened?" Evan asked.

"What do you think happened?" Tabby said, raising an eyebrow. "Him and Rogue got a little frisky and _zap__!_ Now Bobby's talking with St. Peter."

"That's impossible!" Jake said. "She got the cure."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"So... _what_?" Evan said. "The cure doesn't work?"

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Ditto to you, Watson."

Jake turned around to face the television. It was back on, but instead of watching the news, it seemed that everyone was more interested in an episode of _Family Guy_. He remembered what the news anchor had said before Lydia had unplugged the TV: "_Live coverage about the public announcement from Worthington Labs begins after these messages._"

He turned back to his friends. "Tabby... is she okay? Rogue, I mean."

Tabitha shrugged. "Colleen said she was locked up in her room. You aren't gonna...?"

Jake pushed past her before she could finish. "You guys stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes. And don't tell_ anybody_ about Rogue, okay?" He trotted away, heading for Rogue's room.

After getting directions, as well as a date with a few girls in the hallway, Jake was quickly on his way to Rogue's room. When he knocked, no one answered, and the door was locked.

He didn't know Rogue all that well, but she was one of the most well-known students in the school. She got to do sessions in the Danger Room, along with the other more _advanced_ students. Jake and his gang were second place in the popularity contest, and he had a few classes with Rogue, but other than that they were strangers.

"Rogue?" Jake tried to speak through the door. "Okay, I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me. Just open up, okay?" A group of girls passed him, and although he tried to look casual, they all gave him weird looks and giggled as they walked away.

"C'mon, Rogue..." He said once the girls were gone. "You're making me look like a schizophrenic out here. You wouldn't want to embarrass me, now would you?"

He sighed. This approach wasn't working.

"Look," He said in a much sterner tone. "If you don't open up, I'll tell Logan who's idea it _really_ was to throw a red towel in with his load of whites."

There were a few seconds of silence, then the door slowly creaked open and Jake stepped inside.

"Glad you opened up." He said. "That could've gotten ugly." He shut the door behind himself.

Rogue stood with her arms crossed, trying to look unimpressed. Her eyes were red and her face was splotched with pink. It was obvious that she had been crying. "Alright, Jake. Whaddya want?"

He sighed. "I heard what happened with Bobby. I just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"Ah'm fine." She lied. "He just hit his head. He'll be alright."

Jake blinked. "I thought he was dead." At Rogue's confused expression, he sighed. "Blame Colleen Cameron."

She sighed. "Look, Jake... Ah'm fine. I swear."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

She nodded.

"Then touch me."

"What?"

"Touch me." Jake repeated, holding out his arm. "Show me. If you're alright, you'll be able to touch me, right?"

Rogue looked down at his hand, then sighed in defeat. "Fine." she said, and sat down on the bed. "Ah'm not alright. My powers are back."

Jake shut his eyes. "Shit."

"What?"

He opened his eyes, but didn't look at her. "You know what this means, right?"

Rogue stared at him blankly.

"The mobs, the riots... it's gonna start all over again. It's died down since Alcatraz, but now it's back to the beginning, and it's gonna be ten times _worse_."

"Magneto." Rogue said randomly after a moment of silence.

"What?" Now Jake was the confused one.

"He's got his powers back, too. If the cure doesn't work, then he's got his powers back."

"Oh, shit... you're right." He sighed, and began to pace the room.

"Shouldn't we tell Storm?" Rogue asked. She opened one of the drawers in her dresser and pulled out a pair of long, black gloves before slipping them on, and smoothing out the wrinkles.

Jake stood by the window, watching the dead autumn leaves dance as the wind blew them across the lawn. "They've probably already made the connection. My guess is-"

At that moment, the door creaked open and a woman who Jake was all too familiar with walked in. "Oh, I'm sorry... I hope I'm not intruding." She said to Rogue.

"Mom?" Jake said as he turned around, surprised to see his mother standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Jacob! I didn't see you there!" She said, stepping wholly into the room.

Abruptly, another familiar face entered the room - one that Jake was much less pleased to see than his mother's.

"Rogue." Logan said as he burst through the door. "What's he doing here?" He asked angrily as his eyes shifted across the room to Jake.

"He's just visiting." Rogue answered quickly. "He was makin' sure Ah was alright. Isn't that considerate?"

Logan ignored her question, and thus fell an awkward silence. Jake stared at his mother, Samantha watched Rogue, Rogue watched Logan, and Logan continued to glare at Jake.

"Jacob," Samantha said, splitting the silence. "Why don't you go back to your room and work on your homework?"

He paused for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, mom." He got her real meaning, though: _Go away. Now._ He awkwardly squeezed past Logan and was quickly out of the room.

"Rogue." Logan said once Jake was gone. "What happened?"

She sighed and turned her back to the adults. He expected her to yell and tell them to go away, but instead her voice was sweet and mellow. "It was just a kiss. Just one..." She paused and drew in a shaky breath. "And in just a second... he was on the ground. And now..." She reached out toward the wall, and ice shot from her hand. "Now this."

Again, there was silence.

Samantha laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "We didn't come to talk about the past. We came to talk about how we can make the future better."

Rogue shrugged the hand off of her shoulder and stood by the window, with her back turned toward the both of them.

"We want to know how we can make it better." Samantha continued. "How we can help you."

"You wanna know how you can help me?" Rogue said angrily, turning to face Samantha.

She nodded.

"You can _do_ somethin' about it! You can find another damned cure n' give it to me!" She yelled angrily, turning to face them.

"Rogue..." Samantha muttered, taking a step back. "There's no reason to get angry."

"Of course there's a reason to get angry! What's yer power, huh?" Rogue asked, stepping toward the psychologist with a snarl on her face. "Do ya read minds? Can ya make fire come outta yer hands? Or maybe you've got some shiny claws like Wolvie over there. Ah bet yer one of them pro-mutants, huh? Well, ya know what _my_ power is?"

This whole time Rogue had been advancing toward Samantha, pushing her back toward the door. "Ah can kill my enemies with just one lil' touch... but there's a catch, ya see. Ah can't get _close_ to anybody. If Ah ever get settled down, there's no kissin' the bride, no wedding night neither... So you can-"

"Rogue." Logan said, attracting her attention. He had his claws unsheathed, but his expression was unreadable. "Step back from her."

Rogue looked at him and didn't say anything, but after a moment she took a step back from Sam.

"Let's go." Logan said, and Samantha quickly scurried out of the room. He sheathed his claws and followed her out into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

"That part of the PTSD?" He asked, guiding Sam down the hallway.

"Only in severe cases..." She muttered, not making eye contact. "She seemed fine with Jacob, but as soon as he left..." Her voice trailed off, but Logan didn't push her anymore. She seemed to be jarred from Rogue's intimidation, so he thought it would be best to leave her be for some time.

[xxxxx]

"Where's Logan?" The redhead asked for the twentieth time. She threw her doll on the ground in frustration and crossed her arms.

Mentally, Kurt cursed. He got along with all of the other children just fine, but Lenore? Lenore was a completely different story.

"I want Logan." Lenore moaned.

"For the last time, Logan is with Dr. Barrington. You'll see him at dinner." He said, almost losing his temper. He looked at the door, hoping that Warren would walk in any second. He left ten minutes ago, claiming he had to go to the bathroom, but now Kurt was getting skeptical.

"I wanna see him now!" She continued to whine.

He sighed in frustration. "Here." He said, holding up another doll. "I'm Barbie! I like to shop and wear make-up and drive around in my little pink car." He said in a very fake valley girl accent.

Lenore raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "You obviously don't know squat about Barbie." She snatched the doll from his hands and returned her to the miniature dream home that sat in the middle of Lenore's room. "When Barbie became a CEO, she lost her California accent in order to take on a more serious persona." She narrowed her gaze. "Do your research."

Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed as Lenore went back to playing with her dolls. Where was Warren? He should have...

There was an abrupt click that sounded from out in the hallway. "Attention staff members," Storm's voice boomed over the intercom. "Please assemble in the conference room as soon as possible. Students, please report back to your dorm rooms until called for dinner, which will be served later than usual this evening." Another click signaled the end of the announcement.

Kurt stood up. He knew that the "conference room" was a code that seemed to frighten the students less than its true name - _the_ _War Room_.

He looked down at Lenore, who was still playing with her dolls. Storm said _all_ staff members, so that included him. However, he didn't want to leave Lenore all alone.

"Lenore, let's go." He decided after a few seconds.

She looked up at him with her big blue-green eyes. "I wanna stay here." She said stubbornly.

Kurt sighed. Did this ever end? "C'mon. We have to go. Storm said we have to." He paused. "Logan will be there."

At this, she stood right up and dropped her doll. "Okay." She said with a smile.

Out in the hall, they met up with Warren, who fell into stride alongside his friend.

"Hey, buddy." He greeted.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Ja, _buddy_."

"What?" Warren asked innocently. "Oh, you mean the bathroom thing? Yeah... sorry about sticking you with Lenore. I had a bad chili dog for lunch and-"

"Save it." Kurt interrupted.

The rest of the walk was silent, until Lenore fell back to walk beside both of the older mutants. She walked gingerly, humming to herself.

"Kurt?" She asked.

"Ja, Fräulein?"

"Can you take your bracelet off?" She asked sweetly. "I like you better when you're blue."

He sighed. It was more than likely that Samantha would be joining them in the War Room, and he hadn't had the opportunity to reveal his _true_ self to her yet. He wasn't sure how she would react to his demonic appearance, or if she would even recognize him. Then again, she didn't seem to mind Beast, and Lenore had asked so sweetly...

"Of course." He pressed a button on his image-inducer wristwatch and was transformed back into his true self - blue fur, yellow eyes, pointy teeth, three fingers, and of course, the tail that swung behind him as he walked.

Lenore smiled and skipped ahead of them, happy to have her way.

"You gonna be okay, buddy?" Warren asked in a hushed tone, so that Lenore wouldn't be able to hear. "That new lady-therapist hasn't seen you yet, huh?"

Kurt nodded. "I'll be fine. I've dealt with worse."

Within minutes they were in the sub-levels of the mansion, Lenore now clinging to Warren's hand. "Are you sure that Adrian's not here?" Logan told me she was here." She asked, biting at her nails.

"I'm sure, honey. Trust me." Warren lied.

Lenore nodded, but he could tell she was still uncertain. He would be, too, if he was her.

They were outside the War Room quickly. The doors opened automatically, and all three of them stepped inside. They were the last ones to arrive, but they hadn't started the meeting yet.

"Logan!" Lenore exclaimed once she set her eyes on her baby-sitter. She ran over and pummeled him with a hug, followed by a warm greeting.

Warren and Kurt were just about to take their seats when Storm stopped them. "You brought _Lenore_ to the _War Room_?" She asked sternly.

Kurt shrugged. "What else were we supposed to do? Leave her with Baby-Sitter Barbie?"

Storm's lips pressed into a thin line, and she turned away from Kurt and Warren. They took their seats, and so did everyone else. Storm stood at the head of the table, and with the click of a button on her remote, the lights centered in on the table.

"As you all know, we are currently holding Adrian Davis, aka _Control_, prisoner." Storm started off on what Kurt could tell was about to become a very boring speech. "We have been able to extract very little information about the Superiors from her. All we know is that they're planning a large terrorist attack that somehow involves her younger sister, Lenore." She gestured to Lenore, who cowered behind Logan's chair.

"We also know that the Superiors are working with another group of mutants. This group is essential to the attack. Now, we initially thought that these mutants were a group of amateurs that Control scraped off the street, but we now think that she is working with Magneto, and that his powers have returned."

Storm paused to take a deep breath.

"We suspect that Magneto and the Brotherhood will either attempt to continue the plan without Control, or they'll try to rescue her. Until further notice, we are keeping our eyes peeled for any type of activity from either the Superiors or the Brotherhood."

She took a seat as Beast rose, and cleared his throat. "As you all know, we have just discovered earlier today that the mutant cure is faulty. This afternoon the news became public, and already there are riots brewing across the country. I have already begun research on the cure to see what went wrong, but it could take up to several weeks before I find anything conclusive. I theorize that Magneto has not fully recovered from the cure yet, so he may be in a weakened state. However, I cannot be certain. He may still pose a serious threat." He took his seat.

"So what're we supposed to do?" Logan asked angrily and crossed his arms. "Lay around, waiting for Magneto to make a move?"

"Right now that's all we _can_ do." Storm answered.

He scoffed. "Isn't it obvious where he's gonna hit first? Even if the cure was a flop, Worthington Labs still has a chance of fixing it."

Beast removed his glasses and leaned on the table. "We can't be sure of anything, Logan. Besides, we are blindfolded. We can't even be sure that Magneto's the one Control has been working with." He said.

"Who's Magneto?"

All eyes turned to Lenore, who stood beside Logan's chair, silent until now. No one answered her.

"Well, that wraps things up for now." Storm said, breaking the silence. "If we find any additional information, another meeting will be called. Dismissed."

Everyone rose from their chairs and filed out of the room, except for Beast and Storm, who were no doubt staying behind to go over other matters.

* * *

Thanks again to my beta, **martshi3**.

Sorry for the abrupt ending. I had more, but the chapter was just getting too long and the rest wasn't all that important so I cut it off.

And if you're wondering, Evan Daniels is supposed to be Spyke from X-Men: Evolution and Tabitha Smith aka Boom-Boom is from the comics. They both belong to Marvel. Jake Barrington and Amy Burrows are both mine. Wow... my character list is getting really long. Is this too confusing?

In case no one got the red towel thing that Jake said, when you put anything red in with a white washload, then all the whites turn pink. I wouldn't explain that unless my sister hadn't asked me about that, and I doubt anyone's as stupid as she is. Not that you're stupid if you didn't know that, it just... Oh God, I being me again, aren't I?

The quote is by William Glasser. I'm not sure where I got the title, but I remember it was from a book or a comic or something... but all I know is that I didn't make it up.


	11. Old Tricks

_"It's the oldest trick in the book, but we're short on tricks at the moment."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 10: Old Tricks  
**

Days passed and the threat of an attack by either the Superiors or the Brotherhood had moved to the back of everyone's minds. It was dinnertime now and everything was well. Everyone was hungry by the time the food was ready and as usual, there was a lot of food.

The lucky few that arrived early got a piece of Fillet Mignon, but the rest of the steak was quickly devoured by vicious mutant children.

There were three different dining rooms in the mansion in order to fit all of the children, but most of the students took their plates to their rooms or into the living room to fight over the television. The only ones that ate at the dinner table were the teachers and the students who were being punished. And Lenore.

"I don't want to eat them!" She yelled.

"C'mon, kid. Just eat the broccoli." Logan groaned.

"No!" Lenore pouted and tucked her hands underneath her armpits.

"Okay, now you're really starting to get on my nerves." He growled.

Kurt, who sat across from Logan and Lenore, smirked. "Hey, Lenore? You know what happened when I didn't eat my vegetables?" He said, leaning in toward her.

"What happened?" She asked, curious.

"How do you think I turned blue?"

Lenore shook her head. "I'm not stupid, Kurt."

Logan smirked at Kurt, but it quickly disappeared. "Lenny, he's telling the truth. I was there."

She looked at him, wide-eyed. "Really?" She asked, suddenly concerned.

He nodded. "Oh, yeah. He didn't eat any broccoli for two weeks and then poof! He woke up like that."

Lenore gulped and immediately began to scarf down the pile of vegetables on her plate. Kurt and Logan passed each other smirks.

Further down the table sat Samantha Barrington and Hank McCoy, who seemed to be enjoying each others company greatly. They hadn't had much time to catch up earlier, and now seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

"So how is everything going with the cure?" Samantha asked, sipping her glass of water.

Hank sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, not well."

"What do you mean?"

"I managed to get a hold of some mutant DNA and I fed it the cure. The results seem to have altered the X-Gene to make it inactive. Nothing's happened so far, but I'm guessing that it'll be some time before the effects are reversed."

"You wouldn't mind if I took a look, would you? I don't have much experience as a geneticist, but I remember some things from the college courses I took."

"Of course! Though, I can't guarantee that you'll find anything interesting."

Samantha smiled. "Oh, I don't expect to. It's just my curiosity itching at me."

Hank smiled back and they returned to small talk.

After dinner was over and most of the children had retreated to their rooms, Hank and Samantha went down into the sub-levels while the rest of the staff gathered in the living room to watch the evening news.

"Where do you think they're going?" Warren asked Kurt as they caught sight of Hank and Samantha disappearing down the hall.

"Perhaps somewhere a bit more... _private_?" Kurt suggested, and they both snickered.

Storm rolled her eyes as they all sat down around the television and flipped on the evening news.

Most of the stories were simple, typical car accidents and the omnipresent anti-mutant protests that went on downtown. Halfway through the first hour, Lenore fell asleep, sprawled out on the sofa next to Logan and Kurt had already gone to bed.

As usual, the news of the mutant riots came later during the program, when the coverage of a riot at one of the cure distributors that got violent was interrupted.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news," The news anchor announced. "It seems that just a few moments ago our news van pulled up to the scene of a grisly fire in Manhattan. We now go live to the scene with Tracey West."

The screen changed to show an attractive blond woman who held a bulky microphone to her face. A raging fire licked out from the windows of a building that stood roughly thirty feet behind her.

"Thank you, John." She said shortly. "As you can see behind me, a mutant cure distribution center is just one of many distributors that have been attacked in the last month-"

There was a large explosion from behind her, and the screen flickered once.

"Firefighters and police are doing their best to keep the fire under control, but their efforts seem useless as the fire seems to continuously grow."

"Move back! Move back!" Some police officers called from the background, running past the camera. The reporter and camera ran with them, and another explosion came from the flaming building.

"What the _hell_ is that?" A voice said from somewhere off screen. The camera zoomed in, steadily focusing in on a human-shaped object that swooped across the sky, shadowed from behind the fire.

Suddenly, the camera went black and a harsh male voice said: "Hiya, buddy."

The sound cut off and a second later the screen returned to the news desk, where John Blaze sat, unfazed. "It looks as if we've lost connection, but we will now continue-"

The television shut off, and all eyes turned to Storm, who held the remote. "That voice..." She said, her eyes far away. "It sounded exactly like-"

"Pyro." Logan blurted angrily with his jaw clenched.

"Then it's true..." Warren said, taking a deep breath. "Magneto's back. The _Brotherhood's_ back."

"That's our cue." Logan muttered, and they all stood.

"Warren, go get Hank and Samantha and tell them everything. Logan, put Lenore back in her room and make sure all of the students are asleep. I'll prep the Blackbird." Storm commanded, and they all dispersed.

[xxxxx]

As Warren raced through the hallways and down to the sub-levels, possibilities flew through his mind. If this really was the an attack by the Brotherhood, why were they bothering with small cure distributors? Usually Magneto went straight to the source, like with Alcatraz. Besides, if it _was_ Magneto, he would already know that the cure didn't work. Things just weren't adding up...

Nevertheless, Warren did what Storm told him to. He reached the sub-levels, where he headed straight to Hank's lab, which was luckily not too far from the elevator. He rushed through the door, where he immediately laid eyes on the hairy Beast.

"Hank!" He shouted, and rushed over to him.

"My stars, Warren! You startled me." He said, focusing on a test-tube of some foul-smelling liquid. "Be quieter about it next time, eh?"

Warren pinched his nose, blocking out the smell. "There's an emergency, Hank. The Brotherhood's attacking Manhattan."

"What?" Hank said, and set the test tube back in its holder. "Where?"

"Just a cure distribution center, but it's messy. Storm says we're going in."

Hank nodded. "Go get ready. I'll tell Samantha."

Warren nodded once and left the room in a rush.

"Sam?" Hank called into the other room, connected only by a door. He knocked, and a moment later the psychologist emerged, smiling.

"Yes, Hank?" She asked sweetly.

"There's been an attack in Manhattan. It's the Brotherhood."

She gasped, but he continued.

"We're going to try and stop them, or at least try and clean up the mess."

She nodded. "Well, you better get going them. You don't have much time to lose."

"Alright." He said. "Look after the children."

They hugged quickly, and Hank turned to leave.

"Oh!" He said, turning around. "I almost forgot." He pulled a small device out of his pocket of his lab coat and handed it to Samantha. "If anything happens, just use this. It's for emergencies only."

She nodded and absentmindedly gave him a small peck on the cheek. She blinked for a moment or two afterward, but continued on, because Hank was already out of the room and down the hall.

[xxxxx]

Logan would've moved much faster than he did, but now he was holding Lenore, and he didn't want to wake up.

Because if she woke up, then she would want him to sleep in her room. then he would have to explain to her why he couldn't stay, and then she would want to come along, and everything would just get all messed up.

So instead of hurrying, he held Lenore steadily i his arms and slowly made his way to her bedroom.

On his way he didn't see any lights on aside from one that shut off as soon as he passed by. He smirked and continued on.

When he reached Lenore's room, Logan quietly opened the door. The room was still and dark, but the stars outside illuminated the bedroom enough for him to see everything.

He lowered Lenore into bed and removed her shoes before tucking her in, all the while trying not to wake her.

Before leaving, he shut the curtains, and as he made his way back to the door, he tripped over something and made a huge clattering noise. With the ruffling sound of moving sheets and a groan came Lenore's voice: "Logan? Is that you?" She asked groggily.

"Yeah." He said.

He could hear the smile in her voice. "Will you stay here? I feel safer when you're here." She said sweetly.

Logan sighed. "Sorry, kid, but I've gotta go talk to Storm." It was half of a lie. "I'll be back, though."

"Okay." Lenore said, and another ruffle of the sheets signaled that the conversation was over.

He hurried down to the sub-levels, where he guessed everyone else was already in the jet.

He quickly changed into costume and hurried into the hanger where the Blackbird was waiting.

"Nice of you to join us," Storm said as he took his seat near the head of the jet.

"I got side-tracked with a cute redhead who wanted me to spend the night with her."

Everyone gave a small chuckle aside from Storm, who seemed more focused on getting the Blackbird off the ground.

Within seconds, they were off into the sky, headed toward the city.

* * *

Beta'd by the magnificent **martshi3**!

Most of this was just filler... and it turned out a little colorless. Plus I wrote it around 3 am, so of course that never helps. Also, I know nothing about science, and I don't know if anything that Hank says toward the beginning is scientifically correct, but I tried to make it as professional-sounding as I could.

The title was a little make-shift, and I'm not exactly satisfied with it. I was gonna go with some sort of protection/security thing, but I couldn't think of anything clever-sounding, like I usually do (- lies).


	12. Taken for Granted

_"Getting anything changes it from being desirable to being taken for granted."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 11: Taken for Granted  
**

Twigs and leaves crackled beneath her boot as Albino crouched down next to Quicksilver and Mystique, surrounded by dry and dusty brush.

Only minutes they had been contacted by Pyro and Scarlet Witch from the city, saying that they could begin preparation. Now, they waited to see the X-Men leaving the institute so that they could safely infiltrate the large manor.

Finally, the group of three, the other Superiors and Brotherhood hidden somewhere else in the woods, watched as a large black jet rose into the starry night.

"Sweet ride. We'll have to get us one sometime." Albino commented as the jet zoomed off towards the city.

"You like it?" She heard Quicksilver whisper into her ear. "I'll get you one for your birthday." His hot breath crawled across her skin, aggravating her already foul mood.

Without looking at him, she shoved his face away from her neck. "Shut up and wait like a good little boy."

As if on cue, the communicator Albino gripped tightly in her palm buzzed to life, signaling that someone was waiting for her to receive the call. It did not make a sound, given that she had turned the volume setting to vibrate. Clicking a button, Albino held the device to her face. "Camouflage?"

"Let's get going," The second-in-command's voice said from the other end. After turning the communicator off, Albino slid the small device into her pocket and motioned for Quicksilver and Mystique to follow her as she walked from the edge of the brush into the Xavier Institute's backyard.

They met Camouflage, along with Magneto and Panther, in the yard. Albino glanced at the eerie-looking mansion, hoping that no one was watching them.

"Are we all ready?" Camouflage asked, her thumbs tucked underneath her belt.

No one answered, but she took that as a yes.

All of them turned toward the house, Magneto and Camouflage leading. Albino and Quicksilver trailed along at the back of the line, with Mystique and Panther a few feet ahead of them.

They reached near the back of the house and everyone stood back as Magneto stretched both of his hands toward the mansion. Camouflage stopped him abruptly though, laying a hand upon his shoulder.

"Perhaps a more subtle approach would be better." She suggested.

Magneto looked at her for a moment, contemplating and then gave a weak smile. "Of course. Do you have any suggestions?"

Camouflage smirked. "I'll only be a moment." She stepped past Magneto and knelt down in front of the back door. After pulling a few tools out of a sack that hung from her belt, she began to fiddle with the door handle.

Albino knew that Camouflage was an excellent lock-pick. And an even better thief. She wasn't sure where her friend had picked up these skills, but all she knew was Camouflage had been a cop before her life with the Superiors- before she was a mutant.

"You sure she won't trigger any alarms?" Quicksilver whispered to Albino.

She scoffed. "You obviously haven't known the Superiors long enough."

The door swung open and Camouflage stood, returning a few tools to her belt. From inside, she was able to open the second of the double doors, and they all entered the mansion.

The plan had already been made clear to everyone. Magneto and Camouflage were the only two that would be going into the sub-levels while the rest of the group played lookout. The others were supposed to roam the halls and make sure that no one woke up. Hopefully, their distraction was good enough that none of the X-Men had decided to stay behind.

Albino watched as the leaders of the Superiors and the Brotherhood disappeared down the hallway, the remaining four of them staying behind.

"Alright," Mystique said once they were gone. "You all know your territories. Albino will be taking the north-eastern wings; Quicksilver will be taking the southeast; Panther, the southwest, and I will be taking the north-western wings." Her expression was unreadable in the shadows. "Make sure that no one inside is able to contact the X-Men. If we do this right, it should be flawless."

They all nodded and after syncing their watches and communicators, they were off to make their rounds. Mystique and Panther went off in one direction, Quicksilver and Albino the other.

"So," Quicksilver said as they strolled down the halls side-by-side. "Alone again, huh?"

Albino rolled her eyes and said nothing- what she usually did when Quicksilver tried to annoy her like this.

It was silent for a moment and Albino coughed. She hated complete silence. "Didn't you just pass the southeast wings?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I'm a little bit distracted by a pretty lady at the moment."

Albino scoffed. "Can you shut up?"

"Just one more question and then I will."

"Shoot."

"Do you know karate?"

"Um... no?" She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Cause babe, your body is kickin'."

She clenched her jaw and stopped walking. "Will you please go fall off the side of a building? Preferably a skyscraper."

Quicksilver smirked. "The only place I'll be falling is in love with you."

"Oh!" Albino exclaimed in annoyance. "Do you ever stop?"

"Baby, I can go all night if you can handle the ride."

She bit her lip, trying to calm and control her anger. Then turned and began to walk away from him.

"Wait up there, Albie." He said, easily catching up with her.

"Don't call me that."

"Alright, Izzy."

She stopped and looked at him angrily. "Do you ever shut up?" She said loudly, then lowered her voice in case she might have stirred any of the X-Geeks from their sleep. "Just leave me alone, okay? Go back to the southeast wing and do your job."

She turned around yet again to continue on, but his voice stopped her.

"Why don't you just go on one date with me? It's one date, babe. What could go wrong?" He said a little too loudly.

"Sh-h!" She hushed him, pressing her index finger to her lips. "I just don't want to go on a date right now or any time soon. I have more important matters to take care of than searching for love."

He moved in a little closer to her. "Babe, you don't have to search for love- we can make it."

She scoffed and pushed him away. "Are you drunk?" She asked rhetorically.

"Only intoxicated by your presence." He said with a wink.

Albino bit her lip and turned away, but Quicksilver caught her by the arm and spun her back around to face him.

"Oh, c'mon... just one date? Just one, then I'll be out of your luscious, silky hair." He asked somewhat sincerely, his blue eyes staring straight into her own.

She could tell that his intentions were pure- for the most part. "Alright." She said reluctantly. He smiled. "But you can't follow me around anymore, and you have to stop bothering me."

Quicksilver continued to smile ecstatically. "Of course, babe. Anything for you." He tried to give her a quick peck on the cheek, but Albino casually shifted her head to the side, avoiding his lips. He stepped back with an amused grin on his face. "See ya later, Izzy."

"Bye, Pietro."

In a swoosh of wind, the speed demon was gone.

Albino turned around and continued on her route, thinking all the time about the hell she had just condemned herself to.

[xxxxx]

Silently, Camouflage walked alongside Magneto. She had always enjoyed silence, but for some reason, down here in the sub-levels of a place she had only dreamt of, the silence between the two of them was eerie. She didn't attempt to interrupt it.

They stopped in front of a door that looked identical to the others she had seen. "This is where they're keeping her." Magneto announced. "I'd step back if I were you, dear."

Camouflage did as he said, and watched as Magneto extended a hand outward, with the subtle motion of his finger, the door was forced to split open.

"You're late." A familiar voice said as they stepped into the room.

Inside, it was cold and not very comfortably. The walls and floor were made entirely of cement and the only furniture in the room was a small cot and a desk. Across the room, sitting at this desk, was where the object of their visit sat.

She was in worse condition that Camouflage had ever seen her. Her dark roots were beginning to show, and she looked unwashed. Dark circles showed underneath her beady eyes and her pale lips were chapped.

A smile spread across her face as she laid eyes on her two visitors. "I expected you sooner." She said in a smooth voice- the only thing about her that seemed to be the same.

"Some things cannot be rushed, my dear." Magneto said. "We should hurry, you know. The X-Men could be back any moment."

"Yes, of course." Control said, rising from her chair. "Lead the way."

Camouflage strode next to Control as Magneto led them through the metal corridors.

How have the Superiors been without me? She heard Control's voice in her head. Her tone was casual, but still held a sense of authority.

Well, Camouflage replied, still telepathically. Albino was a bit of a hassle, but she shut up once Magneto arrived.

Very good. Control said, and after a moment or two of silence, she knew that their telepathic link had been cut.

[xxxxx]

"Where are they?" Albino asked frantically, leaning over the front seat to see out the windshield.

Panther pushed her back to the backseat. "Be patient, dear. They'll be here any moment. Besides, we have plenty of time."

Impatiently, Albino rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"So, did any of you run into trouble?" Pietro asked, breaking the silence. He said it casually, as if it was just typical dinner conversation.

"There was a boy that put up quite a fight, but a blow to the head did just the trick." Panther answered, her eyes carefully watching for any sport of movement beyond the windshield.

"Hey. Is that them?" Albino asked, leaning forward and pointing toward a bit of movement she had seen near the edge of the brush.

"No, I don't think so. It's just the wind."

There as a sudden knock that jarred everyone in the car and Camouflage appeared outside of the window. "Open up!" She said, her voice muffled. Panther leaned across the front seat to unlock the door, and she climbed into the car.

"Where's everybody else?" Albino asked.

Camouflage turned around to face her. "They told me to go on without them. I don't know what they're doing, though."

"We don't need to wait for them before we leave, do we?" She asked.

"I don't know. Panther?"

The feline mutant bit her lip. "I think we should stay. Just to make sure nothing happens."

Albino scoffed. "I want to go home."

"Isabelle, why are you being so impatient?" Panther asked, watching her younger sister in the reflection of the rear view mirror.

"It's a skill I learned as a child." She said smugly, without a smile. "Now let's get this show on the road. Magneto and Control can take care of themselves."

Panther rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, princess."

Carefully, she pulled the car off of the shoulder of the road and spun it around quickly. In no time they were down the road and far away from the mansion, headed for home.

* * *

Now that school has started up again, I won't have as much time to update. I may update once a weekend at the least.

Beta'd by **martshi3.**

I know my Quicksilver is not so Quicksilver, but he's my Quicksilver :D He'll get more PMS-y (Pietro Maximoff Syndrome) as time goes on. It's not my best chapter, but I'm satisfied with it, and that's what counts, eh?


	13. Acknowledged and Unafraid

_"True courage is when one sees the danger in front of him, and runs to it anyways."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 12: Acknowledged and Unafraid**

Samantha awoke with a jolt, followed by heavy breaths. She sat up in bed and wiped the cold seat from her forehead, then tried to steady her breathing.

It was another one of those blasted dreams again. She shut her eyes and tried to remember the details, but nothing came to mind. Samantha had been having a lot of bad dreams lately. She didn't know if they were clairvoyant or not, but it didn't quite matter since she had been remembering them.

She leaned across the bed and switched on the light before standing up and stretching. The clock read midnight. She had been asleep for less than an hour.

Taking a robe from her closet and grabbing the device that Hank had given her, Samantha shut off her light and quietly slipped out of the room.

In the hallway, it was dark. It took her a few wrong turns before she found the staircase, but nevertheless, she did.

She guessed that the X-Men hadn't come home yet; otherwise Hank would've woken her up. Absentmindedly, she gripped the device tighter in her hand.

After reaching the main floor, Samantha made her way toward the living room, where she intended to catch up on the nightly news. _Probably just some more depressing stories._ She thought, and took a sigh.

"Oh!" Samantha suddenly exclaimed, falling to the floor. She landed on her stomach, but luckily protected her face with her arms. She sat up, rubbing the spot on her elbow that had hit the hard wood floor.

Standing up, Samantha inspected the floor to see what she had tripped over. Lying in the middle of the hallway was a a large black mass. She couldn't see what it was in the darkness, so she knelt down and laid her hands over it gently.

"Oh my..." She breathed.

From the soft rise and fall of breathing and the familiar warmth of flesh, she found that this large black mass was actually a child- a _student._

Gently, she turned the child over and made sure that breathing and heart rate were normal. They were. Next, she lightly shook the girl. Even after turning a light on, she couldn't put a name to her face.

"Wake up, darling..." She whispered softly, still shaking the girl. "Please wake up..."

After a few more pleads, the girl's eyes fluttered open and her lips began to quiver.

"It's okay now," Samantha reassured her. "Everything's alright. Can you speak?"

The girl's lip twitched. "Yes..." She said in a barely audible voice.

"Good. That's very good. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I d-don't know..." She stuttered. "My head h-hurts..." The little girl groaned, lifting a hand to her forehead.

Samantha lifted the girl into her lap and carefully inspected all around her scalp. On the back of her head, part of her dark hair was matted and sticky. Lightly, she touched the spot, and the girl winced.

On the tips of her own fingers, Samantha found blood.

"Listen to me," She said to the girl almost immediately. "You may have a concussion. Don't move... Do you understand?"

"Yes." She said. But Samantha wasn't assured.

Laying the girl back down on the floor, she stood. She would've moved her into the living room or down to the medical bay, but Samantha was sure she wasn't strong enough to carry her.

[xxxxx]

"We're getting a message from one of the comms." Storm announced to the rest of the X-Men and gestured to a blinking red light on the control panel.

"It must be Samantha." Hank said, acknowledging a disapproving glare from Logan. "I gave her mine in case anything went wrong." He pressed the switch that would answer the call.

"Hello?" He spoke.

"Hank, where are you? Are you far?" Samantha's voice said frantically.

"What is it, Sam?"

"There's a girl... A student... she's hurt. Attacked, I think. I didn't know if their still here. I..." She took a deep breath. "I think you need to come home. Now."

Hank looked at Storm, who sat in the pilot's seat next to him. She nodded once.

"Don't worry, Sam. We're on our way."

[xxxxx]

"It was a goddamn trap! The oldest trick in the whole fucking book, and we fell for it like a bunch of fucking farm boys."

"Logan, language."

"_Yeah_, asshole."

"Warren."

Everyone stood in what used to be Control's holding cell. The dented and destroyed door was evidence of Magneto's visit, but aside from that, the rest of the building had been left pristine.

Hank and Samantha were busy with the injured children- there weren't many, thankfully. Kurt was taking roll call with the students while Storm, Logan and Warren stood there, the anger swelling up inside all of them.

"I should've seen this coming." Logan muttered.

"None of us could have foreseen this, Logan."

"Well, Samantha could..." Warren muttered, but Storm hushed him with an angry look.

"We can only look toward the future." She continued. "We cannot change the past."

"Or we could just find a time traveller."

"Warren, leave. See how Hank's moving along. Now." Storm commanded sternly.

"But-"

"Now." She repeated.

Warren rolled his eyes and strolled out of the room, decided that it wasn't worth fighting Storm over this one.

As he strolled down the corridors, he flapped his wings and hummed. He liked it down in the sub-levels. It was quiet and cool; best of all the hallways were wide enough to fit his wings. He didn't have to wear that stupid leather harness.

"Hey Hank." Warren said as he entered the infirmary. "How we doing?"

Hank sat at the bedside of a student, tying up stitches. "If you don't mind, Warren, I'm a bit preoccupied." He said, attention fixed on the boy's wound.

"Sorry." He muttered.

Warren watched as he finished stitching up the boy and cleansing the wound.

"Try not to move too much or scratch it, okay?" Hank said, standing up and stripping off his latex gloves.

The boy nodded and stared at the spot on his arm.

"Storm wants a status report." Warren said as he and Hank wandered away from the medical beds, out of earshot from the students.

Hank sighed. "There's not much news, I'm afraid. We have three concussions, two deep wounds and a broken finger."

"A broken finger?"

"She slammed her finger in a door. Completely unrelated to the attack."

"Oh." Warren paused. "Have you heard anything from Kurt?"

Hank looked over at the students to make sure they weren't listening in, and turned away slightly. "There are four students missing." He whispered carefully.

"What?" He asked, surprised. "Who are they?"

"Jake Barrington, Evan Daniels, Tabitha Smith and Amy Burrows."

"The Snake Gang..." Warren muttered.

Hank nodded. "I don't expect they were kidnapped either. Knowing Jacob, I'd say he took the fight into his own hands."

There was a bit of silence and Warren sighed. "Does Samantha know?" He asked.

Hank shrugged. "Yes and no. I told her, but I led her to believe that Jake was captured by Magneto. I didn't want her thinking that her son had just jumped into his own grave."

"And she believed you?"

"Why wouldn't she?" He said with a smirk.

[xxxxx]

Quietly, Logan slipped inside Lenore's room, trying not to make a whole lot of noise. Nevertheless, as soon as he shut the door, he could hear her stirring under the sheets.

"Logan?" Her voice cutting into the dark silence. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." He answered softly. Even in the dark, he navigated his way over to the window and sat down in the chair that was always reserved for him. He stayed silent, listening to Lenore's soft breathing.

"Logan?" She said again.

"Yeah?"

"Adrian's gone, isn't she?" Her voice wasn't happy, nor was it scared or angry. It was apathetic, a statement of fact.

For some reason, he wasn't surprised, but he wondered how she knew. "Yeah, she is." He paused. "How'd you know?"

He heard the sheets shift and she turned over in bed. "I don't know. I think Adrian told me... through her thoughts. She let me know. Somehow."

Logan kept quiet, rolling it over in his mind. It seemed like something that Control would do - she'd rub that in her sister's face, perhaps try to make her feel afraid. And she could make her as afraid as she wanted to, but she wasn't going to touch Lenore as long as he was around. If she managed to get back into the mansion, that's where she would rot, with three stab wounds right in the gut. Maybe in the chest.

"She doesn't scare me anymore." Lenore continued. "I know she wants to scare me, but she doesn't. Not as long as you're here."

He didn't reply. He had nothing to say. It didn't matter if Lenore wasn't scared or not. Either way, Control would do whatever she wanted to Lenore if she got the chance. But she wouldn't, because he was watching her.

"Go back to sleep, Lenny." Logan said stalely, and he listened to Lenore as she turned over in bed and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Not the best, mostly because it was quickly put-together. A sort of filler chapter.

I don't know why I love giving things cheesy names, but I do. "Jake the Snake"; "The Snake Gang"? I question myself about that sometimes.

Edited by my wonder of a beta, **martshi3!**

I saw that quote somewhere on a motivational poster or something like that... so I just sort of wrote it to sound nice. If anyone knows where the quote is from, it would be wonderful of you to tell me!


	14. Hot Pursuit

_"An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit."_

[xxxx]

**Chapter 13: Hot Pursuit**

When she and the others returned home, Albino was exhausted. She wanted just to take a warm bath, then curl up in bed and fall asleep. Unfortunately, she knew that Control would expect both the Brotherhood to be at least conscious when she returned home.

"Back so soon?" Pyro greeted as they entered the parlor.

"How about yourself?" Albino asked. "Aren't you and Hawkeye supposed to be in Manhattan?"

"Me, him and Scarlet Witch... yeah. We just got home a few minutes ago. I don't know where they ran off to, but they're around. They probably headed off to bed."

"I think I will do the same." Panther announced, yawning softly. "Goodnight everyone. I will see you in the morning." She left the room, and Albino listened as the loud clang of the elevator signaled her sister's exit before turning back to the others.

"I have things to do." Camouflage said curtly and faded into invisibility. The sound of footsteps signaled her exit.

"Anybody else want to leave the party?" Albino asked dryly.

"Party?" Quicksilver asked, raising an eyebrow. "The party hasn't even started yet, babe."

"Are you suggesting that we're throwing a party?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Why not? I mean, with how hard we worked tonight, I'd say that we deserve a little reward."

Albino scoffed. "As long as Control is alive, I don't think that's gonna happen here."

"I know a club we could go to." Pyro said.

"No. Stop it. We're not going out."

"Alright." Quicksilver said, disregarding Albino. "You got a car we can take?"

[xxxxx]

With a little persuading to Albino, they were soon driving along in Panther's Hummer, dressed for the nightlife.

"I still don't think this is a good idea." She complained, making the first turn that brought them out of Mutant Town. "I mean, what's gonna happen when Control finds out?"

"Oh, what's the harm?" Pyro said from the backseat. "It's not like the woman's got anything against having a little fun."

"According to her, fun is a pointless emotion that should serve no purpose in the life of a Superior."

"Is it just me or are we being followed?" Quicksilver chimed in, pointing to a car that trailed behind them at a respectable distance, making no effort to catch them and yet not dropping back.

Albino had been in the area long enough to know that it was rare to see a vehicle on the roads of Mutant Town after nightfall, even in the more inhabited areas. She strained her eyes through the little rear view mirrors. She couldn't see anything beyond the car's headlights, but she guessed that it was a mid-sized sedan or Jeep.

"Speed up some. See what they do." Quicksilver told her.

Albino increased their speed to fifty or fifty-five. She watched as the car behind maintained its distance almost exactly, as if it were tied to them. This meant nothing. It could have simply been that they were rushing to get where they were going. "Drop back," Quicksilver ordered.

They slowed, and so did the car behind them. Again, this proved nothing.

"This guy's either an innocent bystander or he's definitely up to something." She said.

"Skip the next stop sign." Pyro offered. "We can't risk it either way."

They rode on silently, until coming to an intersection. Instead of stopping, Albino drove straight through, not too fast and not too slow. The car behind them did the same.

"Who do you think they are?" Albino asked. "X-Men?"

"No. The X-Geeks aren't that coy."

"It doesn't matter anymore." Quicksilver said, watching the car in his rear view mirror. "They're the cops' problem now."

[xxxxx]

The car was almost completely silent, aside from the hum of rock music spilling out of Tabitha's earphones. The sound was annoying, and she knew this very well, but continued to listen anyway.

"Tabby, turn that off." Jake said suddenly, waving a hand in front of her face to further grab her attention.

She gently pulled out one earphone and turned to Jake. "D'you say something?" She asked, not having heard a word he said.

"I said, turn that shit off." He repeated before gesturing to the building they were parked across the street from. "Somebody's coming."

The gang of four had been sitting in the car - Dr. Barrington's car, to be exact - for almost an hour, waiting outside the warehouse for something to happen. Not much did happen, aside from the appearance of a stray cat that Amy wanted to bring home. Tabitha managed to talk her out of it with a few harsh words.

Jake didn't have much of a plan. All that he knew was that a bunch of idiots decided to invade the mansion, and that he wasn't going to let them off Scott-free. This was one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of things. He didn't have time for plans right now.

"Hey, that's the chick we saw at the mansion!" Evan said from the backseat, pointing to a white-haired woman leaving the warehouse - the same warehouse they had seen the perps go in to.

"Omigosh... we're so gonna die!" Amy whined from the backseat before burying her face into her knees.

Tabitha looked back at her. "Oh, grow up."

"Wait. Shut up. There's more people." Jake said.

All four teens watched as two more exited the warehouse - a white-haired man and a boy that looked about their age.

"Whoa..." Amy said, leaning over Jake's chair. "That's not John Allerdyce, is it? Nobody's seen him since..."

"Since Alcatraz." Jake finished. "I thought he was with Magneto."

"But Magneto got cured. Remember, dumbass?" Tabitha said playfully.

Jake sneered. "The cure doesn't work. Remember, _dumbass_?" He replied in a mocking tone.

Tabitha stuck her tongue out at him, and Jake did the same.

"If you guys would please stop frenching the air, could we maybe focus on the real problem here?" Evan suggested.

He pointed to Pyro's group, who were now all climbing into a black SUV. The older, white-haired man's eyes scanned the street before he stepped into the driver's seat.

Jake started the engine and began to follow the SUV down the road.

They had been driving for a while before anyone broke the silence. As usual, it was Amy.

"Jake, you're driving too close." She said. "Keep away a bit. But don't look like you're trying to keep away."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" He scoffed.

"I don't know!"

"You are absolutely the most-"

"You missed a stop sign." Evan's voice interrupted them.

"What?" Jake asked.

"That stop sign back there. You missed it."

He shrugged. "Oh, well. It's not like-"

Sirens blared, and flashing blue and red lights poured in from the rear window of the car.

"Shit." Jake cursed, and pulled the car on to the side of the street. The police car pulled up behind them and the siren was silenced. "Shit." He repeated.

"You are so dead." Tabitha teased as they all watched the cop step out of his car and saunter over to their car. Jake rolled down the window.

Seeing their young age, he gave them a skeptical look. "License and registration, please."

Jake stayed silent, just staring up at the intimidating cop.

"License and registration." He repeated more sternly.

"Uh..." He stuttered. "I, uh... I've misplaced it." He said nervously, and a snort could be heard from the backseat.

The officer sighed. "Son, how old are you?"

Jake gulped. "Um... nineteen." He lied.

"Step out of the car, son."

All the while, Evan had been sneering from the backseat. Jake ignored him and stepped out of the car. "I'm really sorry about this, officer."

"I am, too, son."

[xxxxx]

All of his life, this was the phone call that Jake Barrington dreaded making. He looked down at the dull dime in his hand and spun it between his fingers. Five minutes. That's all he got and it was all he would need.

He tried to think of who else to call. He would've called his father if he wasn't dead. Next would be his uncle, his namesake, but that wouldn't work - he was probably down in Florida living the high life with some congressman's wife. Then came his mother.

Without another thought, Jake slid the dime into the slot and dialed his mother's cell phone number.

"Hello?" Samantha's voice broke through- soft, sweet and concerned. For a moment, he didn't respond. "Who's there?"

"Mom?" Jake said, his stomach feeling light.

"Jacob! Thank God you're alive!" She said, relieved. "Where in the world are you? Did they take you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, mom." He paused. "I'm in jail."

He heard Samantha take a breath. "You're joking, right?"

"No, mom, I'm not. Look, I only get a few minutes, so you're gonna need to listen-"

"No, Jacob Howard Barrington, you listen to me! All of my life, I've fed you, changed your diapers, paid for your education-"

"Mom, shut up." He said angrily. "This isn't the time. I'm at the police station in Alphabet City. Come pick me up." Furiously, he slammed the phone against its receiver and shut his eyes.

No matter what other people thought, Jake always had good intentions. But somehow, he always turned out to be portrayed as the bad kid - the one who constantly sought trouble. This was another one of those cases. He had been trying to do a good thing by tracking these people - whoever they were - and look what he got. Jail time.

"Hey, Jake, you know where the bathroom is in this place?"

Well, maybe it wasn't exactly jail, but it was as close to it as he had ever come. The officer that had picked them up was too much of a nice guy to arrest a couple of fifteen-year-olds, so he just had them sitting in the waiting room, where they were being closely watched by a security camera.

"God, Amy, I told you to go before we left!" Tabitha said, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

Jake turned away from the phone to face his friends. Evan was slumped in a chair looking bored while Amy was jumping around and holding her legs together, and Tabitha giving her a death glare.

"I didn't have to go then!" Amy whined, still squeezing her legs tightly together. Tabitha rolled her eyes and slumped down into a chair next to Evan.

Jake smirked, and joined his friends.

[xxxxx]

"Where did you say this club is again?" Albino asked Pyro, stopping at an intersection.

"Just make this left. It's on the next corner."

She did as he said, and into their view came a large warehouse with all of its windows blacked out. Multi-colored flashing lights could be seen from behind the painted windows and loud techno music seeped from inside, the sounds muted from behind the cement walls.

They parked the car in a gravel lot beside the club and quickly made their way toward the entrance. As they walked alongside the building, Albino read a large blue neon sign that read _Empowered_.

"Hey Radar." Pyro greeted the large bouncer that stood near the front doors of the club.

"Pyro! Man, where you been?" The bouncer said, giving his friend a fist pound. "I haven't seen you since Alcatraz!"

He shrugged. "I've been around... doing some stuff for Magneto."

"Yeah... I heard the news about the cure. So, the Brotherhood's really back in business, huh?"

"I'm not really supposed to talk about that stuff, but yeah. We are. But tonight, we're just out for some fun." He gestured to Albino and Quicksilver, who stood behind him.

"Glad to hear it. You can head right on in." The bouncer unhooked the velvet rope that closed off the entrance to the club.

"So, I'm guessing the guy doesn't mind mutants." Quicksilver said as they passed through the club doors and into the room filled with loud dance music and almost seizure-inducing lights.

"Radar? He's a mutant. Everybody in this club is." Pyro said, looking out across the huge building packed with college-aged kids.

"A club for mutants?" Albino guessed, noticing that some of the club's inhabitants had physical mutations. "Why haven't we heard about this yet?"

"The owner tries to keep it on the down low. It's not something you'd want the public to know about." Pyro explained as he led them to a table near the bar and sat down. "There might be some negative feedback, if you know what I mean."

He signaled over a waitress, who smiled at them dazzlingly. "What can I get for you folks tonight?" She asked in a peppy voice, flipping her blond hair behind her shoulder.

"I'll have a beer." Pyro ordered. "You guys?"

"I'll just have some water." Albino said blandly. "No lemon please."

"Vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred." Quicksilver said with a smirk.

The waitress just smiled and jotted down the orders on her notepad. "Alrighty. I'll have those right over to you folks!" She turned and quickly disappeared into the crowd, her blond hair still bouncing behind her merrily.

"So, you come here often, Pyro?" Albino asked, turning back to the two men. It didn't seem like a place for a kid of his age, and she wasn't sure how either Control or Magneto would feel about it, but he seemed like the kind of kid that could handle himself.

Pyro shrugged. "I used to, right after Alcatraz. Not so much now." He leaned toward her a bit. "I'd come here more often if I had a pretty lady to escort."

She pushed him away lightly. "Sorry, I'm not interested in statutory rape."

"Besides," Quicksilver said. "She's already taken." He gently rested his arm around his shoulder.

Albino pushed him away. "I am not interested in a relationship right now, Pietro." She said a bit harshly. "Not with you, or Pyro, or anyone else for that matter."

The group fell silent, letting the loud techno music and buzz of the crowd fill their heads rather than the sound of each other's voices.

_

* * *

_

I don't like this chapter all too much. It has no meat, if you pick up what I'm putting down. Perhaps I've been watching too many episodes of General Hospital.

Praise to **martshi3**, my beta!

The quote is by Pliny the Elder, a Roman philosopher.


	15. Typically Unusual

_"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle with the ordinary."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 14: Typically Unusual**

"Jacob, I swore to myself that if anything like this ever happened that I would take it calmly, but now... now I'm not so sure. You're _fifteen_ years old! You should be able to take care of yourself!"

Jake, Evan, Tabitha and Amy all sat in Storm's office. Samantha paced back and forth in front of them.

"What were you thinking? What were _all_ of you thinking? Going after a terribly dangerous group of mutants like that? What good could've possibly come of that?"

Evan raised his hand timidly. "Um... Mrs. Barrington?"

She hardly glanced at him. "No comments."

"Samantha," Hank spoke up from the back of the office, where he had been silently watching until now. "I think we could all benefit from hearing Evan's side of the story."

She looked at Hank for a moment, as if contemplating something, then nodded toward Evan. "Fair enough." She said.

Evan lowered his hand and took a breath. "Well, ya see... it was all Jake's fault."

"Don't you pin this on me!" Jake snapped. "You're the ones who wanted to come along!"

"Oh, don't associate _me_ with _him_!" Tabitha joined in.

"At least _I'm_ not the one who missed that stop sign and almost got his license suspended!"

"That sign was hidden!"

"Behind what? Oxygen?"

The conversation escalated into a huge slur of insults and snide comments between the four teenagers, to the point where they began to shove each other around.

"Silence!" Samantha shouted over their yells. Immediately, they silenced and straightened themselves. "The fault is on _all _of you and _all_ of you deserve punishment."

"Which is where _I_ come in." Storm interrupted, standing from her desk. "From now on, all of you will be spending your study hall in my ethics class. You are no longer permitted off-grounds at any times, unless accompanied by an adult. And you'll also be eating your lunches in detention for the next two weeks. Understand?"

The four teenagers nodded unenthusiastically.

"Excellent." Storm said. "Goodnight to all of you _and_ I'll be seeing you fourth period tomorrow." She gave them a pleasant smile, then they left the office.

"This is _so _unfair." Amy complained once they were out in the hallway.

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Tabitha said, crossing her arms. "Besides, it's all Jake's fault. He's the one that made us go along."

"Ha!" Jake let out a scoff of false amusement. "_Made_ you? Tabitha, you're the one that wanted to _drive_!"

"Would _all _of you just _shut up_?" Evan snapped. "It's over. We got detention - end of story. It's not worth fighting about any more." They arrived at the bottom of the staircase, where Evan left his friends and quickly began to climb the stairs to his bedroom.

"Somebody's got his panties in a bunch." Jake said before following his friend.

[xxxxx]

"Well, that was certainly _relaxing_." Albino said sarcastically, the loud beat of techno music still ringing in between her ears.

They were just leaving the club, where Pyro and Quicksilver had fought over who was going to teach her how to dance the _cool_ way. It turned out that neither one of them were very good dance instructors. The only things she had gotten out of her 'dance lesson' was sore feet and a headache from the dreadful music.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Pyro said, ignoring her sarcasm. "But now we get to go home and hear an earful."

"I think me and Albie are gonna stay out for a bit longer." Quicksilver said.

"What?" She protested, but he gently covered her mouth with his hand. She tried to fight him off, but he kept at it.

Pyro looked from one of them to the other sceptically, but then shrugged. "Whatever. Just use a condom." He said curtly before turning away toward the parking lot, spinning the key ring around his finger.

Quicksilver released Albino only when the fire-starter was out of sight.

"Okay, what is this about?" She asked angrily, pushing herself away from him.

"You owe me a date."

She scoffed. "You couldn't wait till next week?"

"Next week I might be dead." He said, linking arms with her. Reluctantly, she let him do so. "C'mon. I know a place."

[xxxxx]

A soft white swirl of frozen deliciousness, spotted with awe-inspiring morsels brighter than the colors of Mardi Gras. All of this, delicately placed atop a hand-made pyramid of cinnamon-flavored wafer.

"This is undoubtedly the best thing I have ever had in my mouth." Albino took another bite of her ice cream and let the thick cream rest on her tongue for a moment, soaking in the rich flavor of vanilla.

"It won't be for long." Quicksilver smirked, biting into his own pineapple-flavored ice cream.

They sat outside of _September's Parlor_, a rather inexpensive ice cream parlor just a few blocks from _Empowered_, the club they had just come from. Albino was surprised to find that any shops were open this late - it was almost midnight - but Quicksilver explained to her it was because of the lively nightlife surrounding it.

"The stars are pretty tonight." She said, gazing upward.

Quicksilver also looked skyward, but he saw no stars. They were never visible in the city, especially New York. Even from miles away, the lights obscured vision to the stars, making them nearly impossible to see. "I don't see anything."

"But..." Albino paused. "Oh. It's my powers."

He had almost forgotten about her mutant abilities. Albino had the unique ability to see just about any physical thing in any sort of condition. She could adjust her sight to see through night vision, thermal vision, x-ray and many more.

"You ready to go?" He asked once he saw that she was done with her ice cream. "We might want to get an early start. I doubt we'll catch a cab around these parts."

"So shortly? It's been less than a half hour."

"We do have the entire walk home." He stood up and extending his hand toward her.

She looked at him for a moment speculatively before sliding her small pale hand into his.

[xxxxx]

By the time they had reached the Warehouse, Albino found that her fingers had slid between Quicksilver's and she was absentmindedly walking a bit too close to him.

Their topics of conversation ranged from art to world news to Greek mythology and presently, to _Jersey Shore_, which Quicksilver was surprised to find Albino actually watched.

"I dunno..." She giggled as they walked through the back entrance and into the Warehouse. "I just find watching the idiocy of this new generation to be exceedingly hilarious. Or it's just the Italian in me."

"You're Italian?" He asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "A little, on my mother's side."

He smirked. "I'm Italian too, y'know." He said a bit proudly.

"Really? Is that why you're so good with the ladies?"

"All of the ladies... except for you."

Albino pursed her lip. "Oh, don't you try to make me feel bad about getting you all hot and bothered."

"Bothered?" Quicksilver asked as they stopped in front of the cage elevator. "Hot, yes, but bothered? No, I could never be bothered by you."

She sighed. "I'm _flattered_."

He smirked and stared at her for a moment. "I never thought that I'd hear those words coming out of your mouth." He placed his hands on her wide hips and gently pulled her closer to him.

Just days ago, Albino would have never let a man she hardly knew hold her so intimately. But Pietro was different. He was bothersome, always hovering not too far off like a lost puppy. She knew that he was annoying and immature- something she wasn't interested in. She knew she should have hated him for the way he teased her, but for some reason she was always a little excited when he walked into the room, and always somewhat flattered when he called her by her birth name.

So as Quicksilver pulled her into his chest and kissed her, she didn't fight it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. After a few moments they pulled away, but still held each other close.

"Pietro, will you do me a favor?" She asked softly, her fingers playing with the hair on the back of his head.

He nodded. "Anything, my dear."

"Sleep with me tonight."

He smirked. "It would be my _pleasure._"

* * *

This chapter was a little short compared to the others, but I would hate to end my story with, like, 17 chapters so I'm trying to stretch it out. But apparently A. Conan Doyle doesn't care because the Hound of the Baskervilles was like 15 chapters. But it was really good.

I'm really unsatisfied with this chapter's title. It was supposed to be like detention is typical for the kids, but it's unusual for Albino to be doing it with a practical stranger. Ah, well. I'll change it later if I think of something better.

Beta'd again by the astonishing **martshi3**!

Next chapter might take a while, but this one came out whippity-snap, so I better not hear any complaints!


	16. Intuition

_"The only thing that matters is intuition."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 15: Intuition**

The next morning, Quicksilver awoke to the strong smell of freshly-brewed coffee. He blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the light, then sat up and yawned. The chilly November air was a shock; he quickly wrapped himself back up in the blankets and laid down.

"Wake up, sleepyhead." Came Albino's voice, along with the feeling of someone plopping down on the bed beside him.

He opened his eyes and turned over in bed to face her, but still kept the blankets wrapped tightly around him. "Well, someone seems to be happy." He said.

She nodded and sipped the steaming coffee mug that was gripped tightly in her hands. "How can't I be? Last night was wonderful." She smiled and leaned over to give him a quick peck on the lips, careful not to spill her coffee.

"I'll say." He smiled back.

"Would you like some coffee?" She offered perkily. "Hawkeye brought up a tray this morning."

Quicksilver furrowed his brow. "Hawkeye was here? Did he see me?" He asked, concerned. He wasn't sure how his father... how _Magneto_ would react if he found out.

Albino rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't you worry about it. Hawk's so gullible that he believed me when I told him you got drunk and fell asleep here. I don't think anyone will find out, anyhow." She stood up and fetched a mug identical to hers off of the dresser, only a few feet away. "There you are. It might be a bit cold."

Shivering, he sat up in the bed and sipped his coffee. It wasn't very good, but it was still a little warm and felt good down his throat.

"Besides, if anyone did find out, the only person whose opinion matters is Control's, and I don't think she'd mind much." Albino said.

"And Magneto's." Quicksilver added. "I'm not sure if he'd be okay about me having a relationship with another teammate."

"Whoever said we had a relationship?" Albino asked, raising an eyebrow.

He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she was messing with him or not. Then he realized that she wasn't, for a moment, his heart sank. "Do you _want_ to have a relationship?" He asked, keeping his cool.

"Do you?"

Was she kidding? "_No_. I've only been after you for the past week because I wanted to sleep with you and risk my position in the Brotherhood." He said sarcastically.

She shrugged. "It's not inconceivable."

Quicksilver shook his head and sighed. "Shut up and kiss me."

Albino placed both of their coffee cups on the bedside table before crawling across the bed to her lover.

[xxxxx]

"Those foul, nefarious creatures." Panther mumbled, sighing disgustedly. "Those _rats_."

"Well, actually, they're mice." Hawkeye said.

He, along with Panther, stood in the Warehouse kitchen, staring down into a large jar of honey. Apparently, someone hadn't closed the lid tight enough last night, leaving the mice to a field day. Unfortunately for everyone, their little field day had turned into a massacre and now the Superiors were left with dead mice and a whole lot of contaminated honey.

"There has to be at least four of them in there." Panther said. "Oh, those _things_... they make me want to vomit."

"There are five, if you're counting the one at the bottom of the jar." Hawkeye said, pointing to the bottom of the jar, where a thin pinkish tail was brushing up against the glass. "Why don't you just eat them, darling?" He joked to his wife. "I mean, cats eat mice, don't they?"

Panther smirked slightly, amused. "I prefer the ones I kill myself, but I think it's the hawks that claim the dead ones." She teased.

He smirked back. "Touché."

"Well, we better get this out to the dumpster before it starts to stink up the house." Panther said, screwing the lid back onto the large honey jar. "You will take it down, won't you, dear?"

"Of course, darling." Hawkeye said, giving his wife a quick peck on the cheek and taking the jar from her.

Just as Hawkeye was leaving, Pyro entered the kitchen, looking like he had just woken up. "Have you guys seen Quicksilver this morning? I didn't hear him come to bed last night, and he wasn't in his bed this morning. He asked, yawning and stretching his arms above his head.

"Oh, he was in Albino's room when I took some coffee up there earlier. She says he crashed in her room." Hawkeye said as he exited the room, not bothering to wait for a reply.

"Oh." Pyro said, yawning again. "Hey, you guys got any jelly in this place?" He asked, looking through the cupboards.

"Sure. It's in the fridge." Panther answered absentmindedly. She was too deep in thought to consciously answer him and truthfully, she didn't care if he found the jelly or not.

Ever since her younger sister was born, Elizabeth had promised herself that she would take care of her until the day of her death. She would hold her when she cried and make sure that she was stayed away from the wrong kinds of people. She made decisions not only in her own best interest, but also in her sister's. Elizabeth cared for Isabelle when she couldn't care for herself. She once even took revenge on an ex-boyfriend that had wronged her. She loved her sister more than anything in the entire world - more than William, more than being a mutant, and more than life itself.

Elizabeth was always watching her sister, for lack of a better term, like a hawk. And in the past few days, she had noticed a change in Isabelle. This change was progressive and not something she had ever seen before in her sister. Where Isabelle was always focused, Elizabeth now found her daydreaming. She used to enjoy solitude, but now Isabelle could be found only in the common rooms of the Warehouse or about Mutant Town. Things that once annoyed her now went unnoticed and her overall demeanor was just... happier.

And that's when Elizabeth had noticed it. Before, she had been searching for an internal explanation for Isabelle's sudden transformation - she had explored illness, as well as recovery from some mental state and many other possibilities. None of them made any sense. Then it clicked.

It happened in the early afternoon just a few days ago, when Elizabeth and her husband were returning from a visit to the market. Camouflage and Scarlet Witch were hidden away in their bedrooms, Magneto and Mystique were off to God-knows-where, Pyro was challenging himself at a 600-piece puzzle and Albino was tucked away into the corner of the living room near the window, reading _The Art of War_.

Now, Elizabeth knew that there was nothing Isabelle loved more than reading. When she read, she read for hours at a time, only stopping occasionally to eat. She never abandoned a book until finished and considered it a sin to be reading more than one book at a time. More than often it took her less than a few hours to finish a four-hundred page novel.

So when she had seen Isabelle reading at the window that day, Elizabeth did not dare to interrupt her. Instead, she had just unpacked the groceries with William and afterwards decided to help Pyro with his puzzle. But once she was finished with the groceries, she saw something that she did not expect.

Isabelle, who had still been reading in the corner of the room, abandoned her book for something a little more interactive - Quicksilver. Elizabeth recalled that she didn't even use a bookmark!

And that's how she knew. She stared at them, studying the way the two interacted, while pretending to pay attention to Pyro and his puzzle. Meanwhile, the puzzle pieces in her head were finally beginning to fit together.

She knew that in public, Isabelle constantly complained about how annoying Quicksilver was, but she also knew that wasn't the way Isabelle felt about him at all. Elizabeth could practically smell the attraction between the two of them, but she wasn't sure if that was her powers at work or just her distrustful sisterly intuition.

And now Isabelle was sleeping with men she hardly knew. Elizabeth didn't believe her husband when he said that Quicksilver had fallen into a drunken unconsciousness in Albino's bedroom. Well, it wasn't her husband she thought the liar - he would sooner die than lie to his wife - but his source of information.

Not only was Isabelle sleeping with men she hardly knew, but now was also lying about it. She couldn't think of a time that Isabelle had ever done something like this.

_An infatuation._ Panther thought. _Yes, that's it. She's merely infatuated with him. He is quite charming and rather handsome. Yes, just infatuated._

"No orange juice? How do you live?" Pyro's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What?" She asked reflexively, turning to him. "Oh, we survive. Barely." She mumbled. "Just don't eat the green beans. Those are for dinner tonight."

"Don't kid yourself." Pyro mumbled as she left the room.

* * *

The quote is by Albert Einstein.

This chapter was supposed to be elongated by the rest of it served no purpose and I was too lazy to finish it. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks again to **martshi3 **for tolerating me enough to be my Beta!


	17. Don't Be Scared

_"An ugly sight, a man who is afraid."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 16: Don't Be Scared**

Extract from the diary of Samantha Barrington:-

"December 3, 2009.

Usually during this time of year, there is a sense of relief in the air. A sense that even if your life has fallen to shambles, there is always hope. It's as though happiness is everywhere, filling everyone with the spirit of the holiday season.

However, this year, I do not feel that same spirit. Perhaps it is me, perhaps I am changing. Or perhaps it is everyone else that is changing. Yes, everyone has a smile on their face and they all act happy, but it is not just my clairvoyance that tells me something is amiss.

Control is out there - somewhere - waiting for the chance to make her next move, and we will never be able to anticipate it.

Her shadow looms over us all, dampening the holiday spirit and keeping us awake at night. The one that worries me most of all is Logan. Day and night he stands at Lenore's side. We all fear for her safety, but he especially. He won't leave her alone for more than a moment; much less leave her with someone else, in fear that they are just an illusion set by Control.

The children however do not worry themselves one bit. They seem to ignore this looming threat. And I just pray that getting a date to the winter formal may be their biggest worry this winter.

Samantha Barrington, PSYD"

[xxxxxx]

Day after day, night after night, it was the same thing. He hardly had time to sleep anymore. His life was now running on someone else's schedule. He was at Lenore's side 24/7, watching her, protecting her. He was even cutting down on his smoking because she hated the smell so much.

But smoking was the only real indulgence he had anymore. He also considered working out in the Danger Room to be somewhat of a relaxation, but that only happened when Lenore was calm enough to stay in the control room and not touch any buttons. Even then, he had to check in on her almost every ten minutes.

He didn't know how long this was going to last. The worrying, the restless nights... all of it. What was Magneto waiting for? He had Control, he had more than enough mutants- it was the perfect opportunity to strike.

Yet, here Logan stood, outside on Lenore's balcony, staring out at the peaceful night. Far off in the horizon he saw a soft haze of light he knew to be New York City. The stars in the sky glistened brightly, almost twinkling. The moon was curved into a smooth crescent shape, like that of a crooked smile.

Even though it was now December, no snow had fallen yet this year. He doubted it would until later in the month.

Oh, how he missed Canada. Where the beer was cold and the stogies were hot. Where the nights were frigid and the women were warm.

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, transporting himself back just a few years ago. He remembered the cage fights, the traveling and the loneliness... the mystery of who he was and where he came from. How long would it be until he was back there again? There was no doubt he would outlive the rest of the X-Men - Storm, Beast, Angel, Nightcrawler and even Rogue. They'd be old and dying while he remained young and healthy. Suicide wasn't even an option.

"Logan? Is that you?"

Quickly and instinctively, he extinguished his cigar on the stone balcony and threw what remained into the bushes below.

"It's no use." Storm said, leaning onto the railing beside him. "I can smell the cigar smoke from the hallways. You shouldn't smoke around Lenore so much. It's bad for her health."

"So I've been told. Don't worry; I'm cutting back- for her sake."

"That's good."

They stood there for a few moments, watching the stars as they twinkled in the cold black sky. Logan remembered someone telling him once that the stars were the only thing that truly remained in all of the universe, but even he knew that wasn't true. Even stars died- just like everything else.

"Did you know that all of these stars could be dead right now?" Storm said, gesturing up to the night sky. "It's just that it takes the light so long to travel here that we wouldn't know about it."

"Really?" He asked dryly, obviously uninterested.

Storm inhaled deeply. "Is there something wrong, Logan? You've been acting tired lately."

"I'm fine." He said curtly before adding, "Just a bit worried."

"We all are. There's no way we can prepare for Control's next move. You're just doing your job- protecting Lenore." She drew a long breath. "But I think you could benefit from a break."

Logan turned to her, about to protest, but she stopped him before he could start.

"Now, before you go and kick up a fuss, I know you said you wouldn't leave her alone until you knew Control was dead, but it's been almost two weeks and nothing has happened. I think it's safe to say that if she's going to make her move anytime soon, we would've seen something of her already. Now, you can sniff me or do anything you want, but I just want you to get some rest. You deserve it."

For a moment, Logan stared at her sceptically. Her scent was her own, as was most everything about her. Nothing was out of place so far as he could see. And besides, she was right. He needed sleep. Even with his heightened level of stamina, several days without sleep was beginning to render him useless.

"Alright." Logan said, yawning. "But you're gonna keep an eye on Lenore."

"Of course. Just go get some sleep."

"And you're not gonna fall asleep?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I haven't been able to sleep all night. Now go, before I make you." She escorted him to the door, cautious not to wake Lenore as they passed through her bedroom.

"If something happens, wake me up." Logan said before Storm shut the door.

After waiting a few moments, Storm turned around. She passed Lenore's bed and quietly shut the balcony doors, silencing the soft calls of faraway owls and the rustle of dead leaves as the wind blew them through the garden.

"Lenore," She said softly, crouching down beside her bed. She shook her gently, and Lenore groaned. "Lenore, you have to wake up."

Lenore groaned and rolled away.

"Come, now. Wake up." She shook her again, more forcefully this time. Again, she didn't move. "Alright, then." Storm stood up and slowly tore off Lenore's covers from her bed, carelessly leaving them on the floor. Carefully, she lifted Lenore from the bed.

"Storm?" Lenore moaned, still partly asleep. "Where's Logan?"

"I'll take you to see him." She lied. "Now go back to sleep."

She shut her eyes and fell easily back into unconsciousness.

Storm sighed. Avoiding stepping on Lenore's covers, she made her way to the door, which was opened for her by Samantha, who waited for her outside in the hallway.

"Wolverine's gone. There's nobody coming this way for a while." Storm said, shutting the door behind her. "We can drop the disguises." Her white hair grew and faded to white-blonde, her dark skin lightened into pale alabaster and her delicate blue eyes turned to cold black, now intent with corruption.

Both Control and Mystique were masters of disguise, each in their own unique way.

Control was a master of perception and emotion. She could easily disguise herself by using her telepathic powers. By scanning the memories of anyone around her and altering their perception just slightly, she could make them believe she was anyone they had ever met before. Still feeding information off of other's memories, she was also able to copy said person's personality almost exactly. She was the perfect actress.

Mystique, on the other hand, was a different story. She wasn't as much of an actress as Control, but focused more on costume. She was a true master of disguise. She didn't just look like anyone, or just act like them; she became them. The moment she decided to become someone else, their DNA became hers, their scent became hers and everything that belonged to them was now hers.

And tonight, she decided to be Samantha Barrington. Tonight, everything that belonged to Samantha Barrington was hers.

"We should keep them." Mystique said, brushing her silky dark hair behind her shoulder before taking Lenore in her arms. "Just until we get outside. To be safe, of course."

Control nodded. "Of course."

[xxxxx]

Adrian was glad to have her sister back. They were so alike, yet so different.

She remembered as young girls how they would spent nights staying up late in each other's rooms, hiding beneath a tent make of blankets and playing _Mystery Date_. She remembered how they used to tell each other all of their deepest darkest secrets and how they never kept anything to themselves. They were best friends, even through high school. But when Adrian went off to college, things changed.

She got involved in the mutant community and didn't have the time to spend with family anymore. She still loved Lenore, but supporting the mutant cause was more important than any sister could ever be.

But now Adrian needed her sister. The memories she held were too precious. The secrets that she knew could be used against the Superiors in too many ways. It was too dangerous leaving her in the hands of the X-Men, especially now that blasted Charles Xavier was...

Control spun around to face Magneto as he quietly entered the room and shut the door behind him.

"Is she ready?" He asked, joining Control at the foot of the bed, where Lenore laid, sleeping soundlessly.

"No, not now. It would be too problematic to operate now that she's in deep sleep. There would be a lot of backtracking through her mind and the process would become much more complicated." She said, staring down at her younger, redheaded sister. "And I'm much too tired right now. Tomorrow."

There was a moment of silence before Magneto left, leaving Adrian once again alone with her sister.

"You don't need to be scared." She whispered to Lenore once she was sure Magneto was far away from the room. "It won't hurt, I promise. And besides, you'll get to see mom. You guys always got along well. Dad will be there, too. You don't need to be scared, Lenny."

Without another word, Adrian left the room, locking the door behind her.

* * *

I know that it is currently 2010 and that X3 was made in 06, but for some reason I felt like making this 09. It is supposed to be set the winter after Alcatraz. So lets just say X3 was set in 09, okie dokie?

And, see! Adrian is not an unfeeling bitch! Ha!

Send a thank you card to **martshi3** for being my beta!

The quote is by Jean Anoulih, a French playwright in the mid 20th century.


	18. Windows of Opportunity

_"Opportunity only knocks once."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 17: Windows of Opportunity**

It was the first morning in weeks that was quiet. It was so quiet that the birds outside could be heard. There was no sound of children yelling in the hallways outside. It was that eerie, dead silence signaling something amiss that was even worse than those noisy weekend days.

It was Sunday morning, a very beautiful one at that. Blue jays and cardinals hovered around the gardens, nibbling at the birdfeeders and singing their sweet songs for anyone who cared to listen. Water boiled in a kettle on the stove, waiting to be mixed in with mug of cocoa and to warm the bellies of young mutant children and their teachers.

Logan smiled as he entered the kitchen. It was the first day he had been able to sleep in. Usually, Lenore would be jumping up and down on his bed by eight o'clock.

Hank sat at the breakfast table, still in his pajamas, with a steaming cup of coffee within reach and a thick newspaper spread in front of his face. "Good morning, Logan. How was your night?"

Logan shrugged as he pulled a box of Cheerios from the cupboard and joined Hank at the table. "Alright. I finally got some sleep." He dug his hand into the cereal box and pulled out a fistful of Cheerios before shoving a few in his mouth.

"Ah, so you've managed to convince yourself that Lenore can manage to keep herself safe without your protection?" Hank asked, still scanning the newspaper halfheartedly.

Logan swallowed and spilled out a pile of Cheerios on to the table. "Not quite. Storm convinced me to let her take duty for the night so I could finally get some sleep."

Hank put down his newspaper, revealing a confused look. "Ororo? She was in the lab with Samantha and I all night."

"No, she was..." Logan paused for a moment, his face twisted. He jumped up from the table abruptly, spilling Cheerios across the table and onto the floor below.

"Logan! Where are you going?" Hank called, but he had already disappeared out the door, not caring enough to give his teammate's words even a thought. There remained only one thing he was concerned about: Lenore.

He hoped he hadn't been dumb enough to sacrifice the thing he swore to protect to Control - that malicious, deranged psychopath. He would never forgive himself. Her voice had sounded so smooth and honest and he had felt so full of fatigue for the past few days - but that was no excuse.

When Logan reached Lenore's bedroom, he didn't bother to use the doorknob. Instead, he burst right in, knocking the door halfway off its hinges.

Inside, the covers of her bed were strewn across the floor and Logan could now clearly smell remnants of Control's raw, bitter scent. Lenore was nowhere to be found. The balcony was empty, as was the closet; and when Logan looked under the bed all that he found were a few pieces of Barbie clothing and a Justin Bieber CD. Frustrated, he threw the case against the wall, breaking it in half.

His claws now unsheathed, Wolverine rushed from the room, his heavy footsteps pounding against the hard wooden floor. He passed a group of students in the hallway, their eyes wide in fear as they pressed up against the walls in order to make way for Wolverine.

But instead of passing by, he picked the scrawniest kid of the group up by the collar angrily. "Where's Storm?" He asked harshly.

The boy's lip quivered as he eyed Wolverine's sharp claws less than an inch from his face. "I... I..."

"_Where's Storm_?" Wolverine asked again, this time louder and angrily, shaking the child.

"Sh-she and Nightcr-crawler t-took a f-few kids t-to S-Sunday mass." The boy stuttered, but took a deep breath once Wolverine dropped him and his feet reconnected with the floor, however hard the landing jarred him.

[xxxxx]

Bobby Drake had never fallen harder for a girl then he had for Rogue.

Sure, he had dated several handfuls of girls even before coming to Xavier's, but none of the relationships had lasted more than a few months at a time. None of those girls had been like Rogue; he had known this from the moment they met.

It was just last school year, when she first arrived at the institute. He remembered how scared she had acted - how afraid of herself she had been; Storm's Geometry classes, where Pyro and Bobby's practical jokes soon fixed that.

Those other girls - the ones he had met before Rogue found her way into his life - were shallow and uninteresting. All they wanted to talk about was the latest gossip and how their hair would never look good no matter how much they curled it, fried it and dyed it. They never took interest in any deeper topics. The only thing they wanted to talk about after seeing a rather thought-provoking movie was how cute the lead actor was. Music was nothing more than background noise to them and literature was something that teachers maliciously forced upon their pupils. Bobby himself admitted to being shallow at times and rarely feeling in the mood for a deep conversation, but that didn't stop his desire for a girl with smarts and her own opinion.

And along came Rogue.

She was everything he could have asked for. Smart, beautiful, opinionated, courteous, but at the same time she could join in on the occasional pranks set by he and Pyro. Of course, her powers were a problem and the subject of many fights between the two of them, but it was nothing they couldn't work out together.

Rogue often voiced her suspicion of his unfaithfulness and how he would leave her for a more "touchable" girl. Bobby knew that he would never do something like that to Rogue, but... _God_, how he had the urge sometimes. He longed for a kiss, a touch, a warm embrace.

All that had been erased by the Cure. At first, he didn't want Rogue to give up such a large part of her life just for him, but when she told him that she had gone through with it, he felt somewhat relieved. There was no longer that dark cloud looming over them, making sure that they didn't act upon their temptations. Then that cloud was gone and they were free to do whatever they wanted.

A lot of the couples at Xavier's had gone all the way the first chance they got - since the Professor and Jean were no longer around to find out about it - but Rogue wanted to wait. She was just easing back into life without her powers. Another big step wasn't what she needed right then.

And then, just less than a month ago, it was all over. They kissed. The next thing Bobby knew, he was waking up two weeks later with an IV in his arm and one major headache. Their opportunity for that once special night was gone, just like that. No warning, no signs. Just consequences.

Bobby fought back tears. It wasn't _just sex_ to him - it was the opportunity to make love to the only woman he had ever fell in love with.

One tear escaped his barricade; it trailed down his cheek and clung to his chin for a moment before falling through the air and splattering onto the picture that he held in his hand. It was of him and Rogue on the Ferris-wheel at Coney Island that last summer. Bobby had taken the picture, holding it out and giving Rogue a smooch on the cheek while she gave a dramatically embarrassed expression that he knew had to be fake.

There was a sudden, sharp knock at the door that startled him, but Bobby quickly stood up from his bed and wiped all evidence of tears from his face. "Come in." He called to whoever waited outside, as he slipped the Coney Island picture underneath his pillow.

The door opened and revealed Rogue. She smiled when she saw him, and shut the door behind herself.

It was odd to see her wearing gloves again and immediately reminded him not to touch her. It would take a little getting used to, Bobby thought, but it wouldn't be anything he hadn't dealt with before. He tried not to stare at the gloves, but he was sure that Rogue had noticed his not-so-subtle glances.

"Hey, how are you?" She greeted cheerfully and gave him a hug, careful not to make any sort of skin contact.

He hugged back, a little cautiously, and kissed her on the top of her head. "I'm fine. My head still hurts a bit, though. Professor McCoy gave me some meds and he said the headaches should be going away any time soon."

Rogue gave a weak smile. "Yeah, sorry about that..." She said, scratching the back of her head shamefully. "Ah'm glad you're still alive. It coulda been much worse."

"I'm just thankful that it wasn't Kitty or somebody else. Y'know, me being the strongest kid in the school and all." Bobby said sarcastically.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ah'd beg to differ."

"Really? Who do you think could take me on?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Piotr for one, and Professor McCoy, and then there's..." She paused for no more than a second. "... Wolverine."

Rogue knew how Bobby hated it when she brought up Logan. He never said anything to her, but she could just see it in his eyes and feel it in his voice whenever Logan was brought up in conversation. She guessed that he still thought she had feelings for him, like the little girly crush she had on him last year after he saved her from Magneto. It was true that some feelings still remained, but any girl would be crazy not to feel something for a guy who risked his life to save hers. But if Bobby felt jealous, he didn't show it.

"I could take all three of them on with one hand tied behind my back." He said with a smirk.

"Ah'm sure you could." Rogue played along. "Even with..."

She stopped to listen to the sound of commotion coming from outside in the hallway - kids running, screaming excitedly, doors opening and slamming shut. She gave Bobby a curious look and he returned it, just as confused and curious as she was. The both stood up to investigate, her gloved hand in his, but before they could even reach the door it flung open, revealing an out-of-breath Jubilation Lee, a girl that both Rogue and Bobby knew briefly.

"You guys gotta come quick," She said, trying to catch her breath. "Wolverine's gone nuts!"

[xxxxx]

"I'll say this for the _last_ time, McCoy: get_ out_ of my way!"

Wolverine could both hear and smell a crowd of young mutants gathering around, but candidly, he didn't give a damn. They could watch all they wanted, as long as they didn't get involved. This was between _him_ and _McCoy_ and _nobody else_.

"Logan, I can't let you do this to yourself." Hank said, trying to calm his friend down. "If you go after Control, she'll have both the Brotherhood and the Superiors behind her. They'll squash you like a bug!" He tried not to let his stare with Wolverine waver, not to show weakness. Hopefully, Ororo would be back before the talking ended and the fighting began. The last thing Hank wanted was to fight against someone with whom he had been training with for the past months.

"I don't wanna hurt you, Hank, but I will if I have to!" Wolverine threatened. He stood with his claws unsheathed, holding them in front of himself so that Hank could see. His teeth were clenched in anger, growling slightly.

One way or another, he was going to get past. Control was out there somewhere, having her way with Lenore. He wasn't just going to sit around and wait while Storm and Samantha took their time getting home from church. No doubt they would waste more time when they got home - planning, strategizing, and whatever the hell else Storm felt was essential before going into battle. But Logan didn't have any more time to waste. He didn't like the thought, but Lenore could have been dead by now.

"You don't want to do this, Logan!" Hank said.

"Get out of my way!" He swung a fist at Hank, connecting swiftly to his jaw and knocking him to the ground.

"Logan!" A voice cried out from the crowd - _Rogue's_. Reflexively, he spun around toward the crowd, but was quickly knocked down by an unseen force. He landed on the muddy ground with a thud.

"You're too easily distracted, Logan." Hank said, standing over him.

Growling, he stood up and brushed the dust off of his jacket. "I'll drop you like..."

Wolverine's voice was drowned out by a loud clap of thunder. The sky began to darken, and a bright flash of lightning lit up the sky, contrasting against dark clouds that had begun to circle above them.

"That's enough from the both of you!" A loud, familiar female voice came from nowhere in particular. In response, the crowd of students quickly dispersed, with a few brave kids sticking around to see what was going to happen.

Storm approached the two of them, her eyes glowing white. Samantha and Kurt stood at either of her sides, with a small group of students following closely behind.

It was obvious that Storm was angry. The wind quickened as she breathed in an out, her nostrils flaring. The skies remained dark, and lightning flashed across it, accompanied by two deafening claps of crashing thunder.

"What is the meaning of this?" She asked in a booming voice, her angry eyes still glowing white.

"Lenore's gone." Logan said sharply, his eyes floating from the sky down to Storm. "Control took her."

She looked shocked. Her eyes returned to their natural blue colour and the sky above faded back to its normal dim, gray light. Her white hair lost its volume as the wind was suddenly still. "When?"

"Last night - she tricked me. Acted just like you and convinced me to let her alone with Lenore while I slept." He paused. "That psychotic bitch."

"Watch your language, Logan." Samantha scolded quietly, gesturing to the group of kids that stood behind her.

He ignored her and continued. "We have to go and get her, 'Ro. We don't know what the hell Control wants with her, but my bet is it's not good."

"If we go after her blindfolded, she'll kill us before we have the chance to think twice." Hank retorted, giving a glance toward Logan. "We need to wait, see what our options are before we go out there."

"Tell your analytical shit to somebody who wants to hear it, McCoy! She could be dead already. We need to act _now_!"

"I said that's enough!" Storm yelled, followed by a strike of lightning and a crash of thunder. "Everyone, in the War Room - now!"

[xxxxx]

As always in the War Room, it was dim. But today, it was darker than usual. Not just in the light, but in the atmosphere. Wolverine and Beast stayed far away from each other as they could, but the static between them could still be felt by anyone in the room.

Everyone was present, including the younger X-Men - Wolverine, Angel, Beast, Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat and even Samantha. They all wore their uniforms, Samantha given one of Jean's old suits. It was a bit snug, but fit nevertheless.

Storm stood at the head of the table, her eyes glowing white and her anger no doubt fuelling the downpour that raged on outside.

"Control and her Superiors have taunted us for too long. They've sneaked around behind our backs, tricked us, threatened us, impersonated us and now they are beginning to turn us against each other. I say it's high time we acted."

Wolverine smiled to himself and Beast clenched his jaw.

"But we mustn't be so heedless about our attack."

Beast smiled to himself, and Wolverine clenched his jaw.

"I have no doubt that Control knows we're coming. She'll have the Brotherhood and the Superiors waiting for us."

Shyly, Kitty raised her hand and Storm nodded to her. "Not to, like, down the mood or anything, but do we even have any idea where the Superiors are?"

"My best bet is that they are somewhere in Mutant Town, so we'll start here. That's why we'll be splitting up into teams of two. Logan," She said, looking toward him. "I believe you have a few contacts that could assist us?"

He nodded.

"Good. You will be taking Colossus with you. Don't start any trouble."

"Angel and I will take the skies. Beast and Nightcrawler, I want you to check out the sewers below Mutant Town and Alphabet City. They might have a base hidden down there somewhere. Iceman and Shadowcat, I need you to stay here and watch over the other students. I also need you to monitor the police radios for any sign of the Superiors. Contact us if you have anything. Does everyone have all that?"

"Uh, 'scuse me?" Rogue said, stepping into the dim light. "What am Ah supposed to do?"

"Rogue, I think that you should stay behind with Samantha - just for tonight. You haven't been through training for months and..."

"Alright." She said curtly, not wanting to hear anymore, before stepping back into the shadows.

"Good. We meet back here in an hour."

[xxxxx]

Rogue didn't mind being cast out. It wasn't anything new for her. Back in Mississippi, she had never been the typical girl. Her Aunt Carrie had always been a bit controlling and never allowed for much freedom. She supposed that it was for her own good. After all, the one time her aunt did leave her alone with a boy, he ended up in a coma.

So here she was, staring at her feet in the hallways and walking around aimlessly, wondering if her boyfriend would come home alive tonight. She hoped so. She_ prayed_ so.

"Well, you look a little down in the dumps." Rogue opened her eyes and looked up at Jake Barrington, who walked beside her happily. "So, tell Dr. Jake what's bothering you."

She shrugged nonchalantly and sighed. "Oh, Ah dunno. Bobby and the rest of the X-Men went off to find the Superiors. Apparently she took Lenore. Y'know, Ms. Davis? The redhead?"

Jake nodded. "Wow. Am I outta the loop or what? When did all this happen?"

"Control took Ms. Davis last night and then... well; did you see that fight between Professor Logan and Professor McCoy this morning?"

"How could I have missed it?"

"Well, Logan wanted to go out right then to find Lenore, but Beast wanted to go all strategic n' shit. Storm settled it- they just left."

"And you're not going with?" Jake asked curiously.

She shook her head. "Nah. Ah haven't trained in a while, so Ah think it's best if Ah stay behind."

"It's a shame - they could probably use you."

"Thanks, but Ah don't think so. Ah'm not much help, and besides, they don't even knew where Control is."

"Hold up." Jake stopped and she did too. "They don't know where Control is?"

Rogue raised an eyebrow curiously. "Yeah. Do you know something Ah don't?"

Jake smiled. "Apparently, I do."

* * *

I don't know if you can tell, but I've fallen in love with the word malicious.

If you notice in the seventh paragraph in Bobby's monologue, it says "_Bobby knew that he would never do something like that to Rogue_" but during that brief time in Ultimate X-Men (if I'm remembering this correctly) when Rogue and Bobby were dating, he randomly started making out with Kitty. The irony!

**Martshi3**! Guess what? She beta'd this!

The quote is some old proverb. R&R!


	19. The Identities

_"The identity of one changes with how one perceives reality."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 18: The Identities**

"This is a really, really bad idea. Ah mean, Jake... do you even have your license yet?"

Rogue had always heard rumors about all the crazy stuff the Snake Gang did, but she never imagined those rumors were real. How they would steal Professor McCoy's car to go late-night clubbing, secretly sneak on to the Blackbird when the X-Men went on their missions, or how they would sometimes take those missions into their own hands — like tonight.

"I agree with Rogue. Seriously." Amy complained from the back seat, where she always sat, right behind the driver's seat.

"I don't like this either." Tabitha said dryly. "Amy talks too much. I think we should vote her out."

"I second that." Evan said perkily.

"Hey! No fair!"

"Will all of you just shut up? I'm trying to remember which way to go."

The night was clear and cold, with a clean white moon that hung motionless in the starless black sky. It was Sunday night, but the streets of Manhattan were bustling with all kinds of people, including four mutant teenagers getting in over their heads.

As usual, Jake didn't exactly have a plan. Right now, all he was concerned about was remembering how to get to that warehouse they had seen the Superiors at before. When they got there, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. Call the X-Men, maybe, but he doubted that Wolverine or Storm pocketed their cell while on missions. Not that he knew their numbers.

"Hey! Jake isn't this the stop sign you ran last time?" Evan said, pointing to a stop sign across the street as they stopped at an intersection.

Jake groaned. "Don't remind me."

Evan laughed. "Dude, you shoulda seen the look on your face when that cop pulled you over. Oh, man! You were terrified."

Jake clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

Tabitha joined in with Evan's laughs. "What was that you said? I'm so sorry about this, officer! You thought he was gonna shoot you or something!"

"That's it!" Jake yelled sternly, stopping the car. "All three of you — out of the car." Using his powers, Jake willed the back doors to fling open.

"Oh... Jake, c'mon."

"Out."

"Jake—"

"_Out!_" Giving them a telekinetic nudge, Evan, Tabitha and Amy scooted out of the car, slightly afraid of their friend's temper. The doors shut quickly behind them.

"Why me?" Amy complained through the open driver's window. "I wasn't even doing anything!"

Jake dug his wallet out of his pocket and handed her a twenty-dollar bill. "Go catch a ride back to the mansion. Tell my mom that we know where Control is." Not waiting for a response, he pressed down on the gas pedal and sped away, leaving his three friends out on the lonely street, their only companion the brilliant moon high above their heads.

[xxxxx]

If there was one thing Rogue hated, it was being left alone with strangers. Jake Barrington wasn't exactly a stranger, but he was close enough. She didn't know him well enough to feel comfortable being alone with him, especially roaming the dark streets of Mutant Town on a freezing cold Sunday night. Besides, she was missing Sunday Night Smackdown.

"That's it — over there." Jake said, pointing across the street. They should be in there."

"Why... Ah mean... We're not goin' in there, are we?" Rogue asked, looking at Jake with concern.

He let out a stiff sigh. "You got a better idea?" He didn't bother trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice.

"Um... how about not goin' in? Maybe we should call Logan up. Oh, Ah got it! Why don't we go get a pizza or somethin'? That sounds much better than walkin' into a death-trap!"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a wuss, Rogue. If we're gonna be superheroes, we've gotta take the initiative."

"Whoever said Ah wanted to be a superhero?"

He turned to her, and shrugged. "Sorry, I just kinda assumed you would. You train with the X-Men all the time... at least you used to. And you're more cut out to be part of the team than half the kids at the institute. You, Bobby, Pete Rasputin, Kitty Pryde... everybody kind of assumes that you guys'll all join the team when you graduate."

Rogue shivered and wrapped her coat tighter around herself. "Them, maybe... not me. Fightin' bad guys isn't exactly what Ah dreamt of as a kid."

"Oh, c'mon." Jake groaned in doubt. "You _never_ wanted to be a superhero when you were a kid? Did you ever read Batman?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Ah kinda liked Wonder Woman. But Ah'd never want to be here. I just wanna to be Marie. Ah don't wanna be Rogue all my life."

"You don't have to be a superhero all the time."

"But Ah have to be Rogue all the time." She tore off one of her gloves and showed her bare hand to him. "This never goes away. Ah can't just take off a mask and call it quits. You guys — you, Evan, Bobby, Kitty... you guys can stop usin' your powers any time. But me... Ah can't. Ah'll always be Rogue, no matter what." Quietly, she pulled her glove back on and shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat.

"Then what's the point?" Jake asked after a moment of silence.

"Of what?"

"Of trying to be Marie. If you're always going to be Rogue, no matter what, then what's the point of trying to be anything different?"

It took her a moment to think about this. "Ah dunno... Ah guess Ah can't stop trying. Ah know it's impossible, but Ah can't give up being Marie."

"But you aren't. You aren't Marie. You're Rogue. You'll always be Rogue." Jake said firmly, placing his hands on her shoulders. "And that's just the way I like it."

She smiled shyly. "Thanks, Jake. You're a peach."

Abruptly, he grabbed her by the hand and they ducked behind a car, squatting low enough to see through the car windows to the other side of the street. Rogue was about to yell at him for almost dislocating her shoulder, but then she saw why he had grabbed her so quickly — across the street, emerging from a narrow alley beside the Superiors' Warehouse, were two women, both who looked to be in their early thirties. The first woman was short in comparison to her towering companion with spiky black hair that contrasted the long, pure white hair of her friend's.

They appeared to be having a bit of a fight, but the short dark-haired one was doing the most talking. She placed a finger at the taller one, yelling so loud that they could almost begin to hear what she was saying.

"Sisters." Rogue whispered.

"How do can you tell?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes you can just tell."

There were a few moments of more bickering from the two women before stomped back down the alley, disappearing into the shadows.

"That's our cue." Jake said, standing up.

Rogue pulled him back down. "You're not serious about this, are you? We should go back to the mansion and find some way to get to Storm. This is her job."

He rolled his eyes. "You're either coming or you're not coming. Either way, I'm going." He stood up and straightened his jacket. "If I don't make it back, tell my mom that it was me who ate her birthday cake that one year, not Sparky. Tell her it was really good, too." He swiftly turned and crossed the street.

"Christ almighty..." Rogue grumbled before standing up and following after him.

[xxxxx]

Piotr had never been in a bar before, even back in Russia. He was always too busy working on the farm and never felt the need to join the other farmers after work when they would head down to Czar's, a small pub not too far from the farm.

But Wolverine felt right at home as soon as they stepped through the threshold. Inside, it was warm and full of people. The overpowering smell of smoke and alcohol stained the air, a scent that was not at all unfamiliar to him.

"Logan!" A young blond woman greeted them as they entered the bar. She smiled and laid a hand on Wolverine's chest casually. "I haven't seen you in _forever_. I missed you. Did you miss me, Logan?" She asked, her smooth voice soaked in false admiration.

"Drop the act, Mary." Logan grumbled, pushing the woman away from him. "We're here on business."

Mary pouted and her eyes quickly turned to Piotr. "How about your friend, then? He looks like he could use a little fun." She gave him a suggestive smile, then a wink.

"Go find yourself some white-collar bastard that could_ use_ your services. Now where's Jerry?"

Mary narrowed her gaze. "He's in his office."

Logan laid a hand on her shoulder and gave her an approving nod. "You're a good girl, Miriam. You shouldn't be here."

"Asshole." She pushed his hands off of her and disappeared back into the crowd.

"C'mon, Pete." Logan said with a sigh.

They made their way past the bar to a narrow back stairway. Ignoring the Employees Only! notice, they climbed the stairs to a locked door, where Logan ungraciously pounded against the hard metal. "Jer, open up!"

"Go away!" The raspy voice of a middle-aged man called from inside. "I'm busy!"

"It's Logan."

"Logan who?"

Frustrated, he stepped back and slammed his body against the door, but his efforts were useless — it didn't budge.

"Nice try!" The man inside called out with a laugh. "I have this thing locked down solid! You aren't getting in anytime soon, buddy!"

Logan growled and rubbed his shoulder. "Looks like it's your turn, Russkie."

Piotr shut his eyes, and the air around him crackled with the energy of his exertion. With only a will, his flesh turned to metal and his colossal physique grew even more massive, and Piotr was instantly transformed into something more — Colossus. "I advise you to move away from the door." He called to the man inside, hoping that he would take heed. He took a breath before grasping the doorknob, then slamming his weight against the heavy door. Without an effort, it fell to the ground.

Logan stepped through the now open doorway and into a room just as cigarette and alcohol-scented as the bar downstairs. The office was small, with only a desk, filing cabinet, and a small television and couch to take up room. A short, plump man stood near the desk, a cigar hanging out of his mouth and a half-empty beer bottle in his hand.

"Logan!" He said in the same New York accent that had yelled at them through the door just moments before. "You shoulda told me it was you! I woulda let you in!"

He snarled. "Save your shit for somebody who'll listen to it. We're here for information."

Jer sighed. "Whaddya want to know?" He said, plopping back down at his desk.

Wolverine stood next to him, looking down at the desk and try to make some sense of the mess of papers spread in front of him. "Anything you got on the Superiors, or what happened to the Brotherhood after Alcatraz."

Jer laughed heartily. "You really think somebody like me's got intel like that? The Brotherhood disappeared without a trace after Alcatraz, and the Superiors — those pathetic excuses for mutants — have only been on the charts for a few weeks. You've got more of a chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa than the Superiors."

"You've gotta have something on them." Wolverine growled.

He took a deep breath and retrieved a folder from the filing cabinet behind his desk. He handed the folder to Wolverine. "This is all I got. It's just some basic info on some guy named Will Cole. He's got some kinda contact with the Superiors."

"Thanks." Wolverine said insincerely, taking the file from him and beginning to flip through the papers.

"It was my pleasure." He replied dryly. "And you can keep that file. It's only been collecting dust. Now beat it, you prick."

Gesturing for Piotr to follow him, Wolverine tucked the folder inside his jacket and stepped over the broken-down door.

[xxxxx]

When Jake had telekinetically kicked them out of the car, Tabitha was furious. She was always the favorite, always the one who sat in the front seat and the one that was first to find out about the latest of Jake's schemes. But apparently, now Rogue came first and she was left standing in a smelly bar with two of her least favorite people in the world.

"She's not even pretty." Tabitha blurted out.

"Oh, would you get over yourself?" Evan whined. "She's not even pretty, she doesn't even talk to him, she's already got a boyfriend, blah, blah, blah."

She gave him an angry glare, which he didn't seem to notice.

"I'm scared." Amy whined, clinging to Evan's arm. "What if somebody tries to mug us?" She looked around her across the crowd of prostitutes and middle-aged men cautiously.

"We're mutants. If any of these guys try to mess with us, they'll be the ones in trouble." Evan reassured her with a smirk. "Trust me, we'll be fine. Just follow my lead." He led the two girls over to the bar and smiled at the woman behind the counter. "I'll have a Bloody Bull, and two chocolate martinis for the ladies."

The barmaid looked him over once. "You got an ID, sweetcakes?"

Evan frowned. "Uh... three root beers, please." He said quietly.

The woman smiled. "Comin' right up."

"Good job, slick." Tabitha smirked.

"Ohmigod! Look!" Amy yelled, tugging on Tabitha's sleeve and gathering awareness from a few other patrons. "Isn't that Pete? Pete!" She said, calling across the room and waving her arms around.

"Amy!" Evan scolded, grabbing her wrist and pulling it out of the air. "Stop that! We don't want any more attention."

"But that's Piotr Rasputin!" She said, stretching up on her toes to see over the crowd."

"Don't be an idiot—"

"No, Evan... that's really him. And it looks like he's with Wolverine, too." Tabitha said, pointing across the room to their tall and muscular classmate, accompanied by a short and husky man.

"I told you." Amy whined. "Wolverine!" She called.

In response, Wolverine's head snapped in their direction, a snarl on his face.

"Now look what you did."

His eyes locked in on them and narrowed angrily. He changed his direction and unenthusiastically made his way through the crowd and over to the bar, Piotr following. "What the hell are you three doing here?" He demanded once he reached them.

None of them answered — only stood there, blinking in fear. Tabitha nudged Evan with her elbow, and he stepped forward.

"Well, uh, ya see... it's like this..." Evan gulped. "Well, y'know how we followed Control before?"

Wolverine gave him a blank stare.

"Yes, well... of course ya do. Anywho, Rogue told us how the X-Men were going after the Brotherhood... well, actually, she told Jake... but that doesn't matter..."

"Get on with it." He growled, making Evan jump.

"Anyway, Jake decided that we should go along to help you guys, but the problem was that we didn't know where you were, so we just went there alone. Then Jake got mad and kicked us out of the car, so we came here."

"That is the stupidest idea anyone could have ever thought of in their whole fucking life." Wolverine had to restrain himself from grabbing Evan by the neck and throwing him through the window. Instead, he settled for grabbing both Evan and Tabitha by the arm and pulling them outside, Amy and Piotr following.

"It was Jake's idea." Evan mumbled.

"I don't care whose fucking idea it was." He growled. "You could've gotten yourselves fucking killed. Then we would've had to waste even more money on those fucking gravestones."

Amy raised her hand. "Uh, Mr. Wolverine sir? You know that Jake and Rogue are still going after them, right?"

Wolverine could feel seething anger begin to boil inside him. This anger was one that he was well acquainted with. He had felt it whenever he fought in battle, when Stryker destroyed the peace of his new home, and most recently when Rogue was stupid enough to be persuaded by that little shit, Jake Barrington, to prance into an outnumbered battle.

"Why the fuck did you let them go?" He finally burst out, attracting the short-lived attention of a couple passing by.

"Let's see..." Evan said, a bit angrily. "Tabitha makes gum balls that go bang, Amy talks to flowers, and I can make my bones pop out of my skin, whereas Jake can move things with his mind and Rogue can kill people with a touch. I don't think any of us would want to go against either of them."

"Just get in the damn car." Wolverine said, taking a ring of keys out of his pocket and pointing to a large black van a few yards down the street. "We're going after them."


	20. Our Father

I want to say thank you to everyone who has been brave enough to comment a/o subscribe — Yer Mom, starrose2010, Anna Marie, Victor's WildChild, sweetas3point4, 101LoveWriting101, rachelkeeler, Tia Reading and huffle-bibin — I'm glad to know there's people out there to support me!

And now, back to Rogue and Jake...

* * *

_"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 19: Our Father**

Rogue wasn't ever a trouble-maker. Sure, she had lied to her aunt a few times about where she was headed to on a Saturday night, or who she was going to see, but that was just normal rebellious teenager stuff. She had never joined in on major operations or anything that would put herself or anyone else in immediate danger — that was, until tonight.

She and Jake Barrington stood in the alley between the Superiors' Warehouse and another decrepit, abandoned building, attempting to find a way inside. Rogue shivered, this time not only from the cold, but also from fear.

"How the hell did they get through here?" Jake cursed for the hundredth time, studying the dirty brick walls of the exterior warehouse. "There's no door — nothing!"

"Can we just go home now? Ah'm freezin'!" Rogue said, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. "Y'know, maybe they just walked through the walls or somethin' — like Kitty."

"I doubt it." said Jake, disappointedly turning away from the wall and toward Rogue. "I've never heard of anybody else with powers like Kitty."

"Yeah, me neither... can we just go home now? Some of the other kids probably realized already that we're gone, and they're bound to be just waiting to tattle. You know how gossip travels around the school."

"Sure." He sighed. "The car's just around the corner, as long as somebody didn't steal it yet."

Jake stopped as he felt the presence of someone that stood behind him, and less than a moment later, the sound of a gun clicked behind his head and a smooth voice whispered, "Not so fast."

Jake had always been a trouble-maker. He could always be found avoiding some other responsibility in order to plan his next big prank with Evan or Tabitha or Amy, and those schemes were always life-threatening in one way or another, whether it be awakening the lethal fury of Wolverine or taking a dive off the of the mansion's roof and into the pool, or hotwiring the Danger Room to play the deluxe version of Cowboys & Indians, and no matter how life-threatening they were, no one ever seemed to get hurt. However, someone always seemed to get detention, and that someone was more than often Jake Barrington. And right now, Jake would have preferred detention to this.

"Hands behind your head." The smooth voice commanded, and both Jake and Rogue obeyed. "Turn around."

They turned to face two women, both of whose faces Jake was somewhat familiar with. The first — the one whose gun was aimed at his forehead — he knew to be one of the Superiors. She was dark-skinned and tall, and wore her black hair in a ponytail tighter than her purple and black catsuit.

The second woman, who held her gun at Rogue, was unmistakable. She was Mystique, the shape-shifter — Magneto's right hand man. Jake remembered hearing something about her being captured just a few months ago, only to be freed by Magneto. "Hello, Rogue." She said with a smirk on her face.

Rogue was nonchalant. "Long time, no see, Mystique."

[xxxxx]

The car was silent, and Amy didn't like silence. It was awkward and she always felt she needed to fill it, but never had anything to say. "Why isn't there anybody on the streets?" She thought, testing the sound of it in her head, but it was too stupid and irrelevant a question, and would most likely be met by a snide comment from Tabitha or Evan or an angry Wolverine, neither of which she wanted to hear.

"Make a right." Evan said to Wolverine, and he swiftly ignored a stop sign to turn on to the next street.

Amy thought about making a comment on his careless driving habits, but decided against it. Wolverine wouldn't be her first choice of someone to annoy.

"That's it up there." Amy blurted, leaning forward to point to a huge abandoned warehouse, the largest on the street, with all of it's windows painted black. "The one with the graffiti giraffe on the front."

"That's a snake." Tabitha muttered and rolled her eyes.

Wolverine chose to park the van in a cramped spot behind an old deserted gas station, about a block and a half away from the Warehouse. It was dark, secluded and quiet, and full of weeds that stuck up from cracks in the asphalt.

"Pete'll be coming with me as back-up." Wolverine said sternly as all five of them filed out of the van. "Amy, Evan, Tabitha — you'll stay here and just here. I don't wanna hear about how one of ya had to take a piss and got lost or some other bullshit story."

He led them to the trunk of the van, from which he retrieved a small device and handed it to Evan. "Use that to call Storm. Tell her to get the rest of the team and head over here ASAP." He took out a small case and pulled from it a handgun before quickly assembling it and turning back to the three teenagers. He paused for a moment, then handed the gun to Tabitha.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Tabitha asked, a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

He waited a moment, thinking that she might have been asking this just to be annoying before realizing that her question was serious. "You shoot people with it. If somebody comes after you — bang." He said curtly, slamming closed the back doors of the van.

Tabitha held the gun awkwardly, gripping it with both hands and staring down at it, slightly afraid that she might have to use it. "We don't need this." She spat out of fear, looking back up at Wolverine. "We have our powers."

"You're right," He said sarcastically. "Why don't you cook up a some time bombs, Evan can pop out a few bones, and we'll get Amy to go get some advice from that tree over there — hell, why don't you guys just go take on Control yourself?"

Trying to cover her embarrassment, Tabitha scoffed. "No need to get touchy."

Without words other than a few muttered curses, Wolverine pushed the three younger teenagers back into the van and locked it. He and Colossus had already changed into uniform, and only mental preparation was left.

"If Magneto's anywhere near here, he'll sense me from a mile away, but we can't help that. Control'll definitely be waiting for someone to come and fall into her little mousetrap, so try and keep your thoughts scattered — they'll be less detectable to her." Wolverine explained as they made their way down the street.

The night was no different from the last — the moon was crescent-shaped, and the chilling wind licked against his face like an icy whip — and it was not long before they appeared in front of the Warehouse. Wolverine looked up at the tall, shadowed building with its dark windows and crumbling brick walls. The bright moon hung above, partially hidden by the rise of the warehouse. He breathed, taking in mixed scents — Rogue's dry floral aroma and Jake's earthy were the most apparent, with underlying tones of the Superiors and the Brotherhood, whose scents he had picked up after their invasion of the mansion.

"They were here." He said quietly after taking in a few more breaths. "Along with Mystique... and another woman."

"Control?" Piotr suggested.

He shook his head. "No. I can smell her around here, but this scent is fresher."

Wolverine felt frustrated with himself. This was the fight he had been waiting months for, not even sure if it would ever come, and yet here he was, doing nothing but hesitating. If he could, he would have his claws at Control's throat and be pulling pleads of mercy from her pale lips. She would pay for every bit of worry and pain she had caused Lenore and everyone else she had ever made her victim.

But he knew he wouldn't be as lucky to do anything along the lines of that, especially now that Storm was on her way. He looked skyward, half-expecting to see the signature black X-jet hovering above, but he only saw the same dark winter sky with the same white winter moon.

"Logan... I mean, Professor..." Piotr stuttered, unsure of what to address him as now that they were on their first mission since Alcatraz.

"It's Wolverine, kid." He said, partly amused.

Gently, Piotr nodded. "Wolverine," He said a bit slowly, trying to adjust to calling his professor by what could be considered an offensive name. "What is exactly your plan? Storm said that you were in charge..."

"I know what she said." He growled. "C'mon. Follow me."

[xxxxx]

The rag was wet and cold, and Jake didn't know why they had tied it across his eyes. His hands were bound behind the back of a hard wooden chair with itchy twine. He scratched at it so much that he could feel his wrists start to bleed, only hurting himself more. "You'll never get away with this!" He yelled to the darkness of his blindfold angrily. "You've gotta have a death wish!"

"Jake!" Rogue scolded in a hushed tone from the chair beside him. "Stop it, ya'll only make things worse."

"I don't care." He spat, turning his head in the direction of her voice before snapping the other way, unaware that he was looking right into a wall. "Did you hear that? I don't care! Come out here and get me! I'll serve your asses on a silver plate!"

Less than ten feet way, through the barrier of a glass wall, their captors observed silently. Control stood with her eyes closed, weaving through the minds of her two hostages, who didn't seem to know anything aside from how to cram successfully the night before a big test and that the X-Men were searching all over the city for the Superiors. Magneto stood next to her, watching the two teenagers with mild interest and wondering how anyone could let their child become so misbehaved.

"Interesting, isn't it?" He commented halfheartedly, still deep in thought.

"Hmm?" Control murmured absentmindedly before carefully pulling herself from the girl's mind. "What do you find so interesting?"

"How insolent children have become nowadays. They don't seem to have any manners anymore."

She smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't blame the children. It's the parents. What with all these accusations of child abuse going around, the last thing a parent wants is to be caught spanking their child with a wooden spoon. Abuse, discipline — call it what you may, it keeps children in their place. It's obvious that this boy—" She gestured to Jake, who continued to shout insults and threats. " —had hardly an ounce of discipline as a child."

Silence filled the room for a moment, interrupted only by the boy's unheeded insult to Magneto's mother.

"Tell me," He said solemnly. "Did your mother..._ reprimand _you as a child?"

Control stood there for a moment, pondering on Magneto's question before turning her black eyes to him and smiling. "No, she didn't. Not physically, at least." Her eyes fell, as did her voice. "But... there was some potency in the way she would look at me — like I would never be the same to her. Eventually, she would return to being herself, but that look could scar you for the rest of your life." She drew in a soft, unsteady breath and turned back to look at her two subjects. "Well, I better be going. I wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

[xxxxx]

For the first time in her life, Rogue prayed. Of course, her Aunt Carrie was a God-fearing woman and had always dragged her niece along to Sunday mass, but before now, never once had Rogue really trusted in prayer. She whispered the Hail Mary to herself at least a dozen times, and though she had forgotten most of the Lord's Prayer, she still prayed it.

"Are you... are you _praying_?" Jake interrupted, not bothering to try and read her face through the thick blindfold, but raising an eyebrow hesitantly.

Rogue sighed, slightly embarrassed, but didn't let that show. "You gotta problem with that?"

Jake shrugged. "Hey, everybody's got their thing." He sighed. "Besides, it's not like my opinion matters since it's obvious we're gonna die."

"Jake, don't say that. Ah'm sure—" Rouge bit her lip when she heard the door behind her open and close.

Footsteps echoed off the walls and drew neared before a woman stepped in front of her. She was thin and bony, with white-blond hair and pale skin. Her face was long and slender, holding some resemblance to that of a horse. She wore an unflattering white suit that was obviously too big for her.

"Calm your thoughts, Jacob." The woman said with a soft smile. "To answer your question, we only have the blindfold on you to prohibit any offensive use of your telekinetic abilities."

"You must be Control." Jake spat.

She smiled at the mention of her name. "Yes, I am, but there is no need for formalities here. You may call me Adrian." She turned to Rogue. "Marie, is it?"

Her lip twitched. "It's Rogue."

"Alright then, Rogue." She looked toward Jake. "And how about you? Do you prefer Jake or Jacob?"

"My name is Neuro." He said bitterly.

Control nodded, with the same smiled plastered onto her face. "Self-proclaimed names are always the best, don't you think?"

"What do you want with us?" Rogue demanded, leaning forward as far as her restraints would let her. "You already have Ms. Davis."

"My sister? Yes, Lenore's just upstairs, eating her supper." Control said, the emotion falling from her face. "I understand that either of you positively refuse to see things in any other way but from your biased view, so I'll try to explain this as impartially and monosyllabically as possible, without revealing any verboten details, of course." She took a breath, and stepped forward a bit. "We need Lenore for a very important mission that Magneto and I are conducting. And though we have everything that we need, the X-Men are still bound to present complications in the future, and it's far too late to factor them into the equation now. So, why not take them out while the opportunity presents itself? They're looking to try and get Lenore back while we're waiting for a chance to take them out. This way, we both get what we want — everyone's happy. At least, I know I am."

"But why the hell do you need us?" Jake asked, unimpressed by her monologue.

Control smiled softly — a haunting, malicious smile that showed off her pearly teeth. "The more the merrier, as it's said. Why should it be any different with abductees?" She moved swiftly to the door, purposefully out of both of their ranges of sight. "Oh, and one of my girls should be bringing down meals for the both of you, in case you're hungry. I trust that both of you like seafood — Elizabeth makes some mean ginger scallops."

[xxxxx]

"I just have a teensy question." Quicksilver said, taking a deep breath.

"And what would that be?" Albino asked, uninterested.

"Is Control insane?"

They stood in the elevator that would bring them down to the ground level of the Warehouse, where they were supposed to greet Wolverine. Control had told Quicksilver and Albino to "introduce yourselves" and "become acquainted". Quicksilver had never heard of a more absurd thing in the art of battle, and he was sure that he was walking straight to his grave. Neither he or Albino were in uniform — a disadvantage on his part. His uniform was specially designed to reduce wind resistance, which was a crucial factor when it came to his abilities.

"No, she's not insane per se... just unconventional." Albino said, pulling on a pair of red gloves. "She likes her fights to be formal — civilized, as she puts it. Make introductions, exchange fighting style preferences — its like sex to her. She wants the optimum experience for both participants."

He frowned. "Okay, I'll just have to think of this as one giant violent orgy."

Albino patted him on the back and smirked. "That's the way to think of it, sport!"

The elevator came to a clattering stop at the ground level, but neither of them moved. Outside of the cage elevator, everything was still and quiet.

Albino quickly scanned the surrounding rooms with night and thermal vision, but she didn't find anything aside from a nest of rats. "There's no one here." She said, keeping her night vision steady just in case.

"Let me double-check." Quicksilver insisted, and before she could say anything he was gone in a rush of wind, but returned in the same instance. "Yeah, there's no one there."

"But Control said they were right outside." She said, stepping out of the elevator to join her teammate. "They couldn't've taken this much time."

He shrugged. "Maybe they're just not as smart as we expected them to be."

Albino smirked. "Well, in that case, why don't we join them?"

* * *

Thanks to **martshi3** for beta'd pretty much this whole story so far. She is unable to beta anymore for personal reasons, and I will be having another person who would like me to not disclose their name edit for me. R&R!

The quote comes from the first two lines of the Lord's Prayer.


	21. The Enemy

"_Having an enemy means that you've stood up for something, sometime in your life_."

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 20: The Enemy**

If there was such a thing as love at first sight, Warren Worthington III could say that he was victim to it. From the moment he laid eyes on Lenore Davis, with her vibrant red tresses and vivid blue eyes, he wasn't ashamed to say that he was in love. Not definitely, but he was sure that he had feelings for her. He had never been in love before, but there was just something so indescribable about Lenore.

Of course, the thought had occurred to him that she had the psyche of an eight-year-old, but what he felt was hardly mental. It was a physical feeling, but not something he could describe as lust. It was like his brain had finally found what it was looking for — a missing piece that Warren had never noticed to be lost.

And now he was going to save her.

With consideration, it all seemed so cliché: love at first sight with a beautiful young maiden, a kidnapping committed by an evil queen, and now the hunky prince galloping in on his white stallion to save her — or in this case, a handsome heir flying in on his white angel wings. Not exactly storybook, but he would settle.

"Warren!" Storm's voice called from his left, some yards away. "That's it down there!"

He quickly shook any further thoughts at Lenore from his head, and looked down at Mutant Town, a dark mass of inactivity. Instantly, he knew which one of the many buildings that laid below was the one they had come for. It was tall and wide, taking up at least two lots. At Storm's direction, they began to descend gently.

"Is that Wolverine and Colossus?" Warren asked as he got a clearer view of the details on the street.

"I asked him to wait when he contacted me, but I never thought he'd listen." Storm replied curiously.

They landed a moment later, both Wolverine and Colossus waiting with their arms crossed. Wolverine stood with his neck titled a bit, looking away.

"Something wrong? You look a little down, Wolverine." Warren said and smirked playfully, but Wolverine didn't return his perkiness.

Storm ignored him. "Are you sure this is it, Logan? The building seems a bit..." She paused to look up at the tall brick building disapprovingly. "... indiscreet."

Wolverine flashed a look over his shoulder at the warehouse, then nodded once. "I'm sure this is it. In this neighborhood, people like the Superiors don't need to be discreet."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Storm asked, and quickly Wolverine turned his head away with a grunt. "The others will be here soon enough."

"It's not that." Piotr explained, seeing that Wolverine wouldn't. "He's embarrassed," Wolverine passed him a forewarning glance, but he went on. "He wasn't able to find a way inside."

"I'm not embarrassed, I'm fucking angry." He mumbled.

"Why don't you just make one?" Warren suggested. "Pete, you could knock down that wall with just a shove."

"I was trying to go for a more subtle approach." Wolverine grunted.

"I'd say it's a little too late for that."

The four X-Men turned to face two advancing strangers, one man and one woman, both with pure white hair that glowed in the moonlight.

"Who the hell are you?" Wolverine growled and unsheathed his claws with a sharp _snikt_.

The woman smirked and raised her hands defensively. "Whoa, there. Might as well put those away. We're not here to fight."

"At least not yet." The man added quietly, earning a nudge in the side.

"Tell us who you are." Storm demanded, and clouds quickly began to gather overhead.

Their solid expressions didn't waver, but they gave in. "You can call me Quicksilver." The man said. "And this is Albino."

"They're with Magneto." Wolverine grumbled, his nostrils flaring in and out as he breathed. "I can smell it."

The white-haired woman, _Albino_, clenched her jaw. "Can you also smell that we're not here to fight? Right now, we just wanna talk."

Wolverine could tell that both of their emotions weren't as aggressive as they would be if they were looking for trouble, be he denied it. He also knew that they were with the Brotherhood, or the Superiors, and they could be confusing his senses somehow. All he had left to rely on was his instinct, and sometimes even that was questionable.

"Logan," Piotr said, laying a hand on his teammate's shoulder in an attempt to calm him, but it only infuriated Wolverine more. "They mean us no harm. Put your claws away."

Reluctantly, Wolverine willed his claws to slide back into is forearms and straightened his stance.

The woman smiled. "Good. Now if you—"

_Snikt!_

For a moment, the world around Wolverine slowed down. As Albino was speaking, she turned slightly, distracting herself enough that she most likely wasn't paying attention to what she was doing. The man, Quicksilver, did not present a problem either - his attention was directed at Storm, and his eyes studied her in her tight leather suit, so he wouldn't have enough time to notice the situation and react to it.

Just as soon as it had slowed, the world came crashing into motion, and Wolverine lunged for the woman, claws outstretched. But the next moment, she was gone. Wolverine's forceful punch, aimed directly at the woman, caught nothing but air where she had once been and the lack of a recipient caused him to fall to the ground.

"Nice try." Quicksilver said, appearing a few feet away from Wolverine, Albino in his arms.

"Damn teleporters." He groaned, standing up.

"Guess again, Wolverine." In a gust of wind, the man was in front of him, a smirk on his face and a shine in his eyes that suggested malicious intentions.

[xxxxx]

Elizabeth had never thought about having children. Of course, when she was younger she would have fantasies about being the perfect housewife with a perfect husband and two well-behaved children, and even a Golden Labrador named something cute, like Bailey. Yes, although it was hard to believe, Lizzie Barnes once dreamt of the white picket fence life. But now Lizzie Barnes was Elizabeth Cole, Panther, a mutant. A Superior. And Superiors didn't have time for children and Labradors named Bailey and white picket fences.

_Still_, she thought, sighing. _It would be so nice to have children._

"Are you alright, dear? You look a little ill."

Elizabeth drew in a deep breath, bringing herself back into reality. "Yes, dear." She replied, giving a calm smile toward her husband. Silently, she wondered how William would feel about her thoughts of a family.

"Lenore," Elizabeth asked, looking gently at the red-head who sat across from her. "Are you enjoying your scallops? I made them especially with you in mind, you know."

"They're really good." Lenore said with a smile, and took another bite.

Outside, there was a flash of lightning, followed quickly by a clap of thunder loud enough to shake the house and flicker the lights.

"Oh, dear." Elizabeth said, concerned. "I hope there's not going to be a storm. The electricity is so feeble here."

"I wouldn't worry, honey." William said in a certain tone. "We haven't had a storm since summer. Beside, you know New York — bright and sunny all year round." He said sarcastically, earning a nudge in the stomach from his wife.

"I sure hope there'll be a storm." Lenore said, smiling.

Elizabeth frowned. "You don't mean that."

She nodded. "Yes I do. I like storms. The sound of the rain on the roof is nice, and the lightning looks really pretty sometimes. And the thunder is neat."

"Well, _I_ certainly don't like storms. The basement seems to always flood, and even after it drains there's those _rats_. I swear, you'd think they would learn to swim! And the thunder always keeps me awake at night. Doesn't it, darling?"

William nodded, his mouth filled with food.

"Yes, and besides, I've had enough water for a lifetime. Growing up on Mackinac Island... I don't think I can bear to see another _drop_ of water!"

"You lived on an _island_?" Lenore asked, wide-eyed.

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, I did. When I was just about—"

A crash of thunder interrupted her voice, shaking the warehouse violently. The lights went out immediately, shrouding the group in darkness, but a flash of lightning quick illuminated the house, followed by a final rumbling of the thunder.

"Whoa! Did you guys see that?" Lenore exclaimed, jumping out of her seat to rush over to the window, where she could get a better view of the storm.

"Lenore, stay away from the windows!" Elizabeth scolded, following Lenore into the next room as another combination of lightning and thunder rocked across the sky.

"Whose that?" Lenore asked as Elizabeth and William joined her, pointing down to a group of people on the street below.

She could hardly see their faces in the dark with so much distance, but immediately she knew who they were.

"Lenore," She gasped, pulling the redhead away from the window. "Go get Jade and John. Tell them to hurry."

"Liz," William said softly once Lenore was gone, embracing his wife from behind.

She spun around in his arms to face him and drew in a long breath. "I have to go, Will. You'll stay here with Lenore. Protect her."

"Don't go. I'll fight, you stay with Lenore." He paused. "You mean too much to me." He absentmindedly held her tighter, pulling them closer together.

"No, Will. I have to go. My sister's down there. I need to fight alongside her."

William looked at his wife, studying the expression in her eyes. _The concern I feel for her, _he realized, _must be just as great as the concern she feels for Isabelle._

"Alright." He said reluctantly and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, but she pulled him in for a longer, more passionate kiss. After a long moment, Elizabeth pulled away when she noticed that Camouflage and Pyro were waiting in the threshold between the kitchen and the dining room.

"You wanted to see us?" Camouflage asked with one eyebrow raised in interest.

"Yes," Elizabeth said, trying to retain some amount of dignity after being caught making out with her husband. "Albino and Quicksilver seemed to have started the fight a bit prematurely.

"We know." Pyro spat. "Magneto said that he wanted all four of use down there to help out. Mystique and Scarlet Witch are staying behind for back up."

"William is staying here to keep an eye on Lenore, but I will go."

"Alright then. Panther, go suit up."

Yes, Elizabeth Barnes was a Superior, and Superiors did not have time for two children or a Labrador named Bailey or a white picket fence. Superiors did not have time for family, because Superiors were family.

[xxxxx]

Surprisingly, four against two wasn't as easy as Wolverine had expected it to be, especially since one of those two moved faster than six of himself, and the only thing one of those four could do was flap his wings and shed a few feathers.

With claws drawn, Wolverine again swung at the white-haired speed devil, but again he was too late. _Swing, miss. Swing, miss._

Wolverine grunted as he was again punched in the stomach, but it was no use trying to react as the man rushed around him.

_Punch, miss. Punch, miss. Punch, hit._

The glory of his small victory was quickly stolen as Storm interrupted his fight with a lightning bolt that struck Quicksilver down just as soon as Wolverine got a swing at him. He knew that the shock would keep the speed demon down for long, but he still missed the satisfaction of gaining a lead on his opponent.

"Go!" Storm called, her eyes white as she fed the slowly approaching gale. "Find Lenore! We can take it from here!"

Her words were a curse as three more Superiors poured from the building, once of which he recognized as John Allerdyce, Rogue and Bobby's old buddy.

Wolverine turned back to Storm, wondering if he should stay to aid them, but she gave him a nod that reassured him of his teammate's capabilities on the battlefield.

With relative ease, Logan slipped out of the fight just as John and his two Superior friends joined in, slipping into the shadowed alley from which his foes had just emerged. Their scents were fresh, making it particularly easy to find where they had entered the alley from.

He traced their scents to the back of the alley, a narrow passageway set between the Superiors' warehouse and an even dark, dustier building. It was hard to pinpoint the exact origin of their scents, so Wolverine began to look for places that they might have used as an exit. He considered just crashing through a window or even the wall, but then that would put him off the trail, which would take a while to get back on.

Frustrated, he punched the brick wall, but that seemed to do nothing but crush a few bricks and bruise his knuckles. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of a garbage can.

It was silver and round, with nothing that could sat it apart from any other standard trash can. It sat in a corner of the alley, filled with black banana peels and rats and other gross city garbage. Logan looked at it curiously and walked toward it before pushing it aside. Underneath laid a person-sized hole that, from the smell, he could tell led down into the sewers. Reluctant but determined, Wolverine jumped into the darkness, ignoring the ladder that hung down.

Below, it was horrible mix of smells that ranged from bile to seared fresh to rotting compost. He abandoned the tempting sewer waters for the slightly more appealing cement that bordered the reeking waterways.

It wasn't hard to distinguish the fresh scent of the Superiors from the sewer stench, and it wasn't long before Wolverine found his way into the warehouse. He landed in what he figured to be the basement, since it was filled with nothing but debris from the crumbling, disgusting building around him.

_Now, that's no way to talk about someone's home, Wolverine._ Control's voice itched inside his head.

Instinctively, he unsheathed his claws, and although he knew they were no use against Control telepathically, his claws offered a sense of security and a release of tension. "Where are you, Control?" He asked aloud, breathing in, searching for some fresh trace of her bitter scent in the air.

_Logan... I don't want to fight. Everything will be better if you just take your friends, go back to your cozy mansion and forget all about little Lenore._

"Just give me the girl back and we can avoid a very violent and bloody scene."

Telepathically, Control laughed — a laugh that scratched at his brain and made him wince. _Your expectation of my hospitality is touching, really, but not matter how much I would like to avoid a confrontation, you are by no means taking my sister away from me without a fight._

She left his head with a dull jab, one surprisingly less irritating than her laugh.

"Telepaths._" _Wolverine grumbled.

[xxxxx]

"Jake..." Rogue whispered. "Jake, do ya think they're gone?" She asked, but her question was only met by silence, then a soft snore. "Oh my God..." She said rolling her eyes. "How the hell can you be _sleepin'_ at a time like this?"

"I'm not sleeping." Jake answered in a sleepy voice.

Their chairs had been moved so that they faced away from each other, and now Rogue too was granted with the honor of a blindfold.

"Yes, you _were_. Ah _just_ heard you snorin'." She countered.

"I was _so_ not sleeping. I heard every word that you said."

Rogue sighed. "Y'know what? Nevermind. Ah have an idea."

Jake sat up in his seat and began to excitedly play with the ropes around his wrists, which he had surprisingly gotten used to in the past few hours. He was desperate to get out of his chair and maybe grab a cheeseburger on the way home, where he would stay up till midnight playing _Streetfighter_ with Evan. "I'm listening." He said, a bit desperately.

"Okay, well it's gonna sound stupid, but Ah think it might work."

"I'm _listening_." He repeated.

"What if Ah just... try to untie your binds and you do the same?" She said, wriggling her hands around to try and find his.

Jake stayed silent for a moment. "You _just_ thought of this?" He asked doubtfully.

"Hey! Ah don't hear any bright ideas comin' from you, _Neuro_. By the way, since when has _anybody ever_ called you that?" She continued to work at the twine, trying to find some pattern to the knot.

Jake bit his lip. "They haven't. But I thought, if I'm ever gonna be an X-Men, I'm gonna need a codename, right? And Neuro just seems to kinda... fit."

"Well Ah think it sounds kinda dumb." Finally, Rogue pulling a stringer, releasing the knot and freeing her friend. "Yes! Ah got it, Jake."

"Oh, yay. Now you can insult me face-to-face." He said dryly before shaking his binds off and standing up. He tore his blindfold off flooding his eyes with light. "Eureka! I can see!"

"Good for you! Now could you _please _get these stupid ropes off'a me?"

Hurriedly, he pushed aside his chair and began to work at the twine, unsure if he would be able to get the binds off of her before someone came to check on them.

"Will ya hurry it up, Jake?" Rogue complained.

"Will _you _stop bitching for a minute so I can concentrate on this?" Jake said, furiously pulling and tearing at the twine.

She sighed genuinely. "Sorry if Ah come off a little _bitchy_, but Ah'm just hungry and tired and Ah kind need to pee really bad."

"It's okay." He said, returning a sigh. "We're both a little on edge, and that's understandable. But goddammit, Rogue, we've been here for less than _five hours_."

"Hey! A girl's gotta do whatta girl's gotta do."

Pulling at a final twine, the knot gave way and binds fell to the ground. "Oh, thank _God_! My back hurts like _hell!_"

After a brief stretching and back-cracking session, both Rogue and Jake were ready to flee. Jake had no trouble using his telekinesis to pick a few locks, a trick he had learned from Dr. Grey a couple a years back and also one that he had misused on more than one occasion.

[xxxxx]

At any other time than this, Wolverine would have loved to have two scantily clad women waiting for him with mischievous intentions. But these two women were Scarlet Witch and Mystique, and their intentions weren't as innocent as Wolverine could want them to be.

They were waiting there for him, he could tell, when he took the cage elevator up to the third floor. It looked like a large apartment, with a full living room, a kitchen, a dining room and several other rooms that stayed hidden behind closed doors.

The two women stood in the hallway with casual stances, as if he was late for some appointment. There was a moment before they addressed each to other that Wolverine found familiar — a moment that he took to draw his claws and snarl.

"Hello again, Wolverine." Mystique said in her deep voice, eying him from head to toe.

"Nice get-up." He said, noting her change of costume from the last time they had met — she now dawned a loose-fitting white dress and let her sticky orange hair grow out so that it now billowed down her shoulders.

She smiled slightly in amusement. "I'll take that as a compliment."

It was hardly a moment before she started the fight, taking a generous leap into the air and landing behind him, so that he had an obstacle at every angle — two walls at both of his sides, Scarlet Witch in front of him, and Mystique at him back.

Wolverine turned in order to keep an eye on both women, but his efforts were in vain as the moment he turned away from the witch, he found a coffee table hurling him through a wall and leaving him to groan in familiar pain as he fell roughly to the ground. He rose in the pile of debris, only to find Mystique and Scarlet Witch advancing toward him through the large hole he had left in the wall.

"Logan!"

"Rogue?" Wolverine called instinctively, his attention turned toward the threshold of the living room, where Rogue stood with Jake at her side and a look of horror on her face.

"I'll deal with them." Scarlet Witch said, quickly fleeting after the two teenagers, who in response disappeared out of sight.

His attention returned to Mystique, who had again begun to advance toward him. He made the first move this instance — a gaping swing of his claws — which she flawlessy dodged, unobtrusive to her stream of motion.

She made a quick jump and aimed a kick at his neck, but Wolverine caught her leg reflexively and pushed it away. While he continued to try at her with his claws, only barley grazing her skin with each swipe, she continued to make quick, tight punches and kicks, only some of which he managed to evade.

"You need to brush up, Wolverine." Mystique sneered as she dodged another one of his punches, and fought back with a take at his side.

Wolverine swiftly caught her wrist before she could touch him and pushed her down. "I could say the same for you." Seizing the moment of his advantage over her, he quickly pulled back his clawed fight and—

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. There'll be quite a mess to clean up." Said an all too familiar voice, one that Wolverine had not heard in quite a few months.

Not of will, his claws retracted, and Wolverine knew exactly who was behind his involuntary act.

"Magneto." He spat angrily before turning around to meet the face of his long-time enemy.

"Wolverine." The older mutant greeted in response before gesturing behind him. "And I believe you've already met Control and Majesty."

Standing the threshold between the living room and the hallway was Control, her originally messy blond hair pulled back into a tight bun. Clinging casually to her side was Lenore, only a few inches shorter than her sister.

"Majesty?" Wolverine asked, still staring at the two sisters as they stared back. Lenore held a look in her eyes — it was calm and unafraid, but not a look of recognition. She looked at him like a stranger, like the enemy.

"Yes, don't you think it fits Lenore well? She is so regal, even with the psyche of a child."

"What did you do to her?" He demanded angrily as he turned back to Magneto and saw that Mystique now stood at his side. Wolverine tried again to unsheathe his claws, but Magneto's hold on his metal-laced bone structure stopped that.

"It wasn't him," Control joined in, making her way from the hallway to Magneto's side. "It was me. And as far as Lenore is concerned, the only thing that I did to her brain was expel all the lies she was told by the X-Men."

Wolverine growled.

"Go on, growl all you want." Control continued, a smile twitching at her lips as she glanced briefly at his hands. "I bet you wish you had those claws of yours to protect you now, huh? Well, I'm sorry to inform you this is one fight that you've _lost_, Wolverine."

"Not so fast, Blondie." A southern accent said.

A smile crawled across Control's mouth as she turned around to face it. "Rogue, do you really want to—"

Silence befell the room, and immediately Wolverine felt a release of pressure as Magneto released the hold on his claws.

Standing the threshold beside Lenore and Jake was Rogue, her hands glowing a brilliant crimson, the color he had only seen from the power of the Scarlet Witch. "It wasn't hard to pull a fast one over on your friend, Wanda." Rogue said, a slightly malicious smirk playing at her lips.

Magneto stepped forward, his demeanor full of rage and annoyance. "Where is my daughter?" He demanded.

"Don't you worry — we left her in a safe place." said Rogue. "But now Ah've got her powers _and_ her memories. So lem'me ask _you_, Control: do _you_ really want to go up against _my_ power?"

Control clenched her jaw and she stepped forward. "Your power is no match for mine, you arrogant girl!"

_Snikt!_

In a moment, the room erupted into a flurry of violence — scarlet bursts of chaos lashing against the white flashes of pure mental power, clinks of shining adamantium versus precise, combat techniques, the chaos of kinetic against kinetic.

Lost in this mess of violence was a girl, her hair bright and red in color, her blue eyes hidden behind shut lids. She had seen so much violence in her life, most of which she didn't remember. She did not understand most of the stupid things that went on in the world, but the one stupid thing she did understand was why these people in front of her fought, and it was because of her.

"Ah know who you are, Control!" Rogue's voice rose over the sounds of chaos, loud enough — she made sure — for everyone else to hear.

"You know _nothing!_" Control retorted, throwing a burst of her psionic energy at Rogue, which she swiftly dodged.

"You can't hide it forever!" Rogue screamed, blocking another psionic burst with a shield of Wanda's power. "Show yourself — Phoenix!"

* * *

Dun dun dun! Oh, no — Control is Phoenix! Or is she? Or am I just teasing you? Or am I? Read on to find out! The next chapter will be in shortly.

Thanks again to **martshi3** for being my reliable beta!

The quote is by Winston Churchill, and I hope that you already know who he is! Especially my British friends out there.


	22. Belonging

_"A man without decision can never be said to belong to himself."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 21: Belonging**

_Fire._

From where she stood, all Rogue could see was fire. She knew that she only had a few minutes to get out, or otherwise she was toast — literally.

"Jake!" She called out again, knowing that even if Jake was still in the building, her voice would only be eaten up by the roar of the fire by the time it reached his ears. "Logan! Jake!"

She cleared a path in the fire with a swipe of Wanda's powers, looking for any point of exit. Ah shouldn't've evoked Control like that, Rogue thought. It was stupid. Look what I did.

"Rogue!" Logan's voice broke through her thoughts, and she turned around just in time to see him breaking through the fire, the flames licking away his skin before it quickly patching itself up again.

"Logan," She called back, willing away the fire as he came up to her. "Where is everyone? Did Jake and Lenore get out safe?"

"Yeah, but you need to get out of here. This place is gonna collapse any minute now, and I've still gotta find Lenore."

"Ah'm fine. Ah wanna come with you." She said, pulling away as he latched his hand onto her wrist. She waved her hand over the nearby flames, and as a result, it disappeared. "See? Just fine."

"Wanda's powers aren't gonna last you much longer. Now, c'mon."

Rogue gave in and followed Logan through the fire, willing away the flames enough for them to make it through safely. They stopped at a window, broken from the heat of the fire.

"There's a fire escape through here that you can use to get down to the street. Storm and the others should be just around the corner. Tell them not to wait up for me." Logan explained, brushing away broken glass from the window sill. "Hurry."

Rogue squeezed through the window and stepped out into the cold night, a relief from the scalding heat of the fire, most of which she had been protecting herself from with her temporary powers.

She turned around to see Logan off, perhaps, she thought, for the last time, but he was already gone.

[xxxxx]

The fire scorched his skin, peeling away flesh to reveal underlying tissue and muscle and bone, and sending screaming pain to every inch of his being. It was difficult to focus on anything but the burning heat, but he managed to keep one thought in his mind: Lenore.

He had known her hardly two months, but already he was attached to her — had a sort of fatherly love for her. He was soft, he admitted, for redheads, and being specially chosen to be her private bodyguard didn't seemed to help the cause. Now she was taken, and if he couldn't get her back this night, she might be lost forever. If he couldn't take down Control, they'd both be lost forever.

Through the fire he caught a whiff of Control's distinctive bitter scent and with effort, he held onto it. Avoiding the inferno, he sound found his way to a staircase, the kind that belonged in a dusty old warehouse. As he climbed the stairs her scent became stronger, and he followed it through a heavy door at one of the top floors.

Inside was a large room that spanned across the entire floor. There was no carpet, just a dusty cement floor, freezing from the chilly November nights. Wolverine was sure that it wouldn't be cold in here much longer.

Across the room were three open windows, each covered with lacy white curtains that swayed gently in the wind, turned yellow from dust and water damage.

He started toward the window, but his eye caught a flash of light to the left and curiously he walked toward it. In the dim light casted by the set of windows he made out a computer. He clicked the mouse once, and five computer screens buzzed to life, each displaying live feed from security cameras set about the Warehouse.

There was feed from outside, the basement, bedrooms, the elevator and the bathrooms. There were cameras placed on the stairs he had just climbed, and cameras that showed the spreading fire on the main floors. But no one was shown moving on the cameras.

Wolverine began to grind his teeth, struggling not to burst out in anger. Control wasn't anywhere in the building, as told by the security cameras, and that meant she was gone, with her Lenore. But — her scent was so strong.

Control's scent was fresh — she couldn't have been here more than a few minutes ago. With renewed hope, Wolverine breathed in, retracing his steps back to the staircase, where the scents were more recent. He climbed even higher, until he reached the door to the roof, and burst through.

The wind was like a whip against his face, carrying along with it chilling snow that felt like sharp icicles picking at his skin. It blew so strong that it threw the door open, creating a loud crash as it slammed against brick. She had to be up here — he knew she was. Even if all scents were lost in the freezing wind, he could feel her presence near by. He wasn't letting her get away this time.

"Here!" her voice called from somewhere to his left, peppier that he had ever heard it.

He turned toward the direction of her voice, and through the blur of the snow he could make out the shadows of two women — the taller one Control, the other Lenore. Without hesitation, he unsheathed his claws and came trudging toward them.

"Stop right there, Wolvie." Control said, and although he could hardly see her through the snow, he could tell she was communicating with him telepathically. He stopped, but on his own accord. He would have his chance later. "Let's make this a little homier, shall we?"

Control waved a hand through the storm, and what next was a little like a dream. The snow disappeared, as did the rooftop and everything that surrounded them. Just as soon, it was replaced with a large throne room made of black marble, a large golden sculpture of a phoenix carved on the wall.

"Don't worry," She said with a bit of a chuckle. "It's just an illusion. So we could have a clearer conversation. Rooftops are rather ideal for dramatic confrontations, but certainly not in this sort of weather. Don't you agree?" Control stood with one arm around Lenore's shoulder, and Lenore stared at Logan with wide-eyes.

Wolverine ignored Control's question. "I'm not here to beat around the bush. Give me the girl." He said with an underlying growl.

The amused smile on Control's face twitched. "Even if I let her go, she won't want to go with you." She petted Lenore's hair affectionately. "Does this beauty look like she belongs with the X-Men — a bunch of mutant hunters?"

"What the hell are you—?" Wolverine growled. "Don't believe a word she says, Lenore! She brainwashed you!"

Control held her sister tighter and whispered to her, "Don't listen, Lenore. I told you he would try to trick you." Lenore turned into Control and hugged her. A light flickered in Control's eyes as she smiled at Wolverine.

He clenched his jaw and felt his hands involuntarily tighten into his fists. He moved a foot forward, but stopped himself. A physical confrontation wasn't the way he was going to win this fight — if winning was even a possibility.

[xxxxx]

"Mom," Adrian asked her mother one day in the summer while they made lunch. Daddy was at work and Lenore was at a friend's house for a play date. "Why did you name me a boy's name?"

Her mother laughed pleasantly and smiled down at her eldest child. "Adrian, you don't have a boy's name! Who told you that nonsense?"

"Lenore." Adrian said with a pout and her skinny arms stuck across her chest.

"Well, we'll just have to get her for that, won't we?" Her mother laughed again, but his only made Adrian angrier than she was. Susan saw this and squatted down to meet her eldest at eye level. "Adrian, do you know that there are names that are meant for both boys and girls?"

Adrian rolled her eyes. "Duh! Like Sam and Alex and Robin and Carey. Everybody knows that."

Susan smiled. "But there are lots of other names, too. Adrian's one of them."

"But I don't know any other girls named Adrian!"

"That's because you haven't met any yet, silly!" Susan said. "Daddy's name is Phil, right? And your Aunt Phyllis, what do we call her for short?"

Adrian's eyes lit up. "Phil!"

Her mother nodded. "That's right. And how about your preschool teacher Miss Jessie? She's got the same name as Uncle Jesse from Full House."

Adrian smiled and gave her mother a big hug. "Thanks, Mom! Now I can go tell Lenore how wrong she is!" She ran away happily, and Susan just shook her head and smiled.

[xxxxx]

"Adrian, I'm scared!" Lenore whined, fighting against her sister's tight hold. "Let me go! I want to go home now!"

Control held her younger sister from behind with her arms tight against Lenore's chest, under the armpits so she could not push against her. Wolverine saw a fire flicker in Control's eyes, the same fire he had seen when Jean had lost control of the Phoenix.

"I can hear you're thoughts, Log— Wolv... Wolverine!" Control shouted, still fighting to keep Lenore close to her. "I'm not like you precious Jean! I have _control_ of the Phoenix! I _am_ control!"

He took a few steps forward, and noticed how Control did not try to stop him. "Are you sure of that?"

"No!... Yes! No, yes... **Yes**!"

Lenore slipped from her arms as Control fell to the hard marble floor of the throne room, and ran away with tears slipping from her eyes. Wolverine tried to lean and catch her, but she just pushed him away and ran on. He would have gone after her, but he had a job to finish with Control.

"Very impressive, Wolverine — trying to use mind tricks on me." She said, climbing to her feet. She swayed a little, but stood nevertheless. "You never fail to entertain... but you're smart enough to know you've already lost."

"You've got the rules reversed, darlin'."

Control threw back her head and laughed. "Wolverine, I'm going to ask you something, and you have to be truthful — do you love my sister?"

"What do you care?" He said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, who am I kidding? I don't even have to read your mind, it's so obvious that you love her." She laughed again. "Have you ever noticed that every woman you've ever loved has wound up dead? First Kayla, then precious little Jeanie, and now I'm going to destroy the delightful Lenore who you've grown so mad about."

Wolverine bit his tongue, struggling not to lunge for her. She was purposefully angering him, taunting him to try and attack. "It's my turn to ask the questions," He said calmly. "Did your mother not pay enough attention to you? Is that why you're so batshit crazy?"

She masked her frown, but not quickly enough for Logan not to catch it. "I told you, Wolverine, your psychological approach isn't going to work. You're dealing with a telepath here."

He ignored her. "Or did Daddy not love you as much as he loved Lenore? Did he love you at all? Were you _jealous_ of your perfect little sister?"

"**Shut up!**" Control screamed, and she twisted her fingers in her hair. "You don't know anything about me!"

[xxxxx]

"Storm! Storm!" Rogue called as she rounded the corner, running at full speed. She knew if Logan faced Control alone, he wouldn't have a chance at defeating her, and having Rogue as his only assistance wouldn't be much help either.

"You are solely to blame!" In the middle of the street there stood a group of mutants split in half — on one side, the Superiors and the Brotherhood, and on the other side, the X-Men. She stopped running once she spotted them, and approached the group slowly.

"There she is!" A woman shouted angrily and emerged from the group. She advanced toward Rogue, but didn't come too close. "This is all your fault!" The woman shouted. She was one of the Superiors — they had called her Camouflage.

Before Rogue could retaliate, Storm stepped in between the two of them. "None of this is any of our fault." Storm said firmly. "Rogue merely unveiled this problem, she didn't create it."

Camouflage pushed Storm aside and pointed a finger at Rogue. "You knew what you were doing. You knew Control would react like this and you still provoked her!"

"This isn't Rogue's fault!" Jake called out from the group of X-Men, but Beast stopped him from saying anything more.

"Someone has to take the blame!" Camouflage said, facing the X-Men. "Our home is destroyed and two of our team members are unconscious. Whose fault is that?"

Panther laid a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know you're angry, Jade, but Control fooled us all. There's no reason to lash out."

Camouflage shoved Panther away from her roughly. "You still haven't figured it out, have you? Control didn't try to fool anyone. You and your sister and your husband were just too blind to see what's right in front of your face."

"You... you knew?" Panther stuttered, astonished. "But... she's possessed! How could you let her go on like that?"

"The Phoenix gives Control power beyond your wildest imagination. Camouflage shot back, her jaw clenched in anger. "She is more than capable of controlling it."

"Obviously, that is no longer the case." Magneto spoke up.

Camouflage turned toward him, her face full of confusion and shock. "What?" She asked stupidly.

"Control convinced us that she had total restraint of the Phoenix, but tonight she has proved otherwise. We are breaking off our ties with the Superiors."

"No, you can't — please — tonight is just a temporary setback!" She said frantically, but the Brotherhood had already turned their backs. "You're nothing without us! You'll come crawling back... and then you'll see!" She called after them.

Panther look up at Camouflage soothingly. "Jade, have you gone mad? Don't you see what Control's doing to you — to us?"

Camouflage glared down at her friend. "Shouldn't you be trying to stop your little sister from running off with her paramour?"

Panther looked frantically about her for a moment, and seeing that Albino was no where to be found, she hurried off in the direction that the Brotherhood had disappeared to.

"This is insane," Beast stepped forward. "Look what you are doing to your team. You're splitting yourself apart!"

Her eyes were angry as she looked back at him, but here was a tiredness, a sort of weariness in her stare that made Beast feel a great pity for her. "Go home," She said. "I have bigger things to deal with than you." She pushed past the X-Men and disappeared down the street.

"Storm," Rogue said, remembering her urgent message. "Wolverine, he went after Control all by himself! He can't do it alone, you know he can't."

[xxxxx]

"Lizzie?" Albino said as she caught sight of her sister out of the corner of her eye. She held Pietro's hand tightly in her own and faced her sister. "Shouldn't you be with Camouflage?"

Panther looked down at Albino's hand, linked with Pietro's, then up at her sister. "What are you doing, Isabelle? Running away with this..." She looked at him, searching for a word. "...boy."

"I'm not running away. I just don't think that I belong with the Superiors anymore."

Desperate to keep her sister by her side, Panther searched her brain for the right words. "Izzie... I... you belong with me — with your sister."

Albino sighed, and turned to Pietro. "Would you leave us alone for a moment?" He nodded and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

"Isabelle," Panther started.

"No, Lizzie, listen to me." Albino interrupted before taking a deep breath of the frigid night air. "Since we were little, you've been trying to protect me from anything and everything. Liz, I love you, but I'm twenty-six now. I can take care of myself."

With tears almost in her eyes, Panther grabbed her sister's hands. "Izzie! You don't have to leave! Look at everything you have here — you're beautiful and smart and you have us. You have the Superiors. What more could you possibly want?"

Softly, Albino slipped her hands away from her sister's. "Lizzie, I will always love you. But I think I really have something with Pietro, and I think we can make it work. I've made up my mind." She hugged her sister tightly. "Goodbye."

Panther looked up at the cloudy night sky as she let her little sister go, not daring to look after her. The wind began to whip faster around the street and blew her hair all about, but she didn't care. She just needed one thing right now, and that was her husband.

[xxxxx]

Time passed in front of Adrian's eyes like cars passing on the street. For a moment it was 1997 and she was watching the news of Princess Diana's death, then a moment later she was 8-years-old again and standing in the outfield as she waited for a ball to come her way.

She didn't remember where she was or what she was doing — wasn't George W. Bush just elected? Or was it Bill Clinton? Why was her hair suddenly blond, and who was that strange man who stood fifteen feet in front of her? Shouldn't she be at Uncle Kenny's burial service right now? Or was that last month?

"What's the matter?" The strange man said, and his question seemed to be directed at her. "I thought you were in control!"

Suddenly, Adrian didn't have any feeling in her body, no will of her own, and her mouth spoke even though she did not command it to. "You don't know who you're dealing with, Wolverine!" She said, voice much deeper than her own. All free will was gone from her body, and she no longer saw from her own perspective — instead she saw from the man's eyes, watching her limp body, a huddled lump on the snowy rooftop.

Fire emanated from her body and burned hotter than anything she had ever felt before. Everything around her seemed to catch fire — the snow, the night air, the stars in the sky. She felt a force deep in her chest trying to escape, bursting from the inside out. Her eyes burned in their sockets and every in of her skin felt as if it was in flames.

Adrian wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to contain the force, but soon the pain became too much and her vision began to blur. The last thing she saw before everything turned to black was the strange man's face, gloomily illuminated by the light of the fire.

Wolverine watched as Control toppled over and the fire that surrounded her dwindled into small, bright embers. The wind had come to a standstill and the clouds above had been swept away, revealing a clear black sky, freckled with millions of little stars.

_Did you know that all of these stars could be dead right now? _He remember Control had said to him that night when she took Lenore. _It's just that it takes the light so long to travel here that we wouldn't know about it. _He stood beneath those same stars, the same sky, but somehow everything seemed different. He knew Control wouldn't be bothering him anymore, and that was at least one thing off his plate.

* * *

First off, I want to apologize for how long it took me to update! Everything got a little crazy for a while, but now everything's settled and we're good! I must have rewrote this chapter, like, ten times... I didn't know exactly where I wanted it to go, but I think this was the best I got out of myself. It's a little messy, I admit, but things were flying through my head so quickly that it just came out like that. There was another section I wanted to add, but I lost that somewhere in the deep dark pits of my laptop.

So... Control's defeated! I'm sorry if it wasn't as big as a climax, but I'm not that good at high-tension scenes and everything. I only have about two more chapters to go, and I have most of it written, so stay tuned! Also, I apologize if there's a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes in this chapter, because it was not beta'd!


	23. Only the Beginning

_"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning__."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 22: Only the Beginning  
**

Lenore slept for the next two weeks. After the first week she was moved from the infirmary to her bedroom, where everyone took turns watching over her. She slept with her mouth wide open and hardly moved, which concerned Logan, but Hank said there was nothing to worry about. Her heart and breathing rates were both normal, and all they had to do was let her rest.

Control slept for the next two weeks. After the first week the house doctor was dismissed, and Camouflage and Panther took turns watching over her. She slept with her jaw tightly shut and constantly shifted her position which concerned Camouflage, but Panther reassured her that everything was fine.

A fortnight after her inner battle, Control awoke in an unfamiliar apartment. It was cold, and when she stood up from the bed she saw that only a thin cotton T-shirt and nylon shorts covered her.

Camouflage was asleep, slumped in a chair in the corner of the room. Control was curious to probe into her thoughts, but her own mind was too weak to concentrate on much of anything.

On the clock it read three AM, but Control wasn't tired so she took a blanket from her bed and wrapped it about herself before venturing out of the bedroom.

The apartment was small, with an adjoined living room and kitchen but no dining room to speak of. Panther was asleep on the couch with a book lying open on her chest. Control carefully lifted it from her hands and laid it on the coffee table before turning out the light and heading out onto the balcony.

It was cold but she didn't mind, and only wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. There was still snow on the ground and it was could enough for her breath to be seen, but the winters in New York were long and there was no determining the date just from the weather. Control could tell she had been asleep for a long time, but whether it had been three weeks or three months, she did not know.

The balcony door opened and from behind and Control turned around to see Panther shivering in the cold.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked, struggling to keep her voice steady. No matter how tired and weak she was, Control had to be strong in the eyes of the Superiors. She was their leader, and if the leader fell, then so did the army.

"Two weeks yesterday." Panther said as she stood next to Control and looked down at the lonely dark street.

"And Albino? Where is she?"

Panther seemed to falter and looked down at her bare toes, pink from the cold stone that they stood on. "She ran off with Quicksilver." She said reluctantly. "I don't think she'll be coming back."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Control agreed. "And Magneto?"

"He said you've convinced him your control over the Phoenix is gone, and that he is braking off all ties with the Superiors."

Control smiled a bit. "You agree with him, don't you?"

Panther looked at her, a bit surprised. "I—"

"Oh, calm down." She interrupted and shot a smile at her comrade. "I don't blame you. I would feel the same way if I was in your position — worried, confused, shocked, lonely, questioning your own ethics and past decisions... no, I don't blame you at all."

There was an odd silence, and Panther bit her tongue, trying to keep her thoughts steady in case Control was reading them.

"Where is Hawkeye?" Control asked, not curiously, but just as a question to fill the gap in conversation.

"Dead." Panther answered, just as casually.

"You're sure?" Control asked, watching her out of the corner of her eye.

"No, we're not sure." She paused. "But he's no where to be found and the police report says there was a body uncovered in the wreckage."

"And you're not bothered?"

"He died for a good cause. That's enough to comfort me."

Control wasn't surprised. It was no secret that Elizabeth and William were never in love, the sole reason she had approved of their marriage. "A marriage of convenience," Albino had always said, but Control knew it was much more. Rather than actually loving one another, it was more that they loved being married to each other.

"What's our next plan of action?" Panther asked in a serious tone.

Be strong, Control reminded herself. A leader must be strong in the eyes of her followers. But she could not think of a strong answer, so she just shook her head. "I have no idea. But I do know one thing — this is not the end."

[xxxxx]

When Jacob Barrington looked back at the passing weeks, it was if the events of the past three months were just some realistic dream his brain had thought up during a lazy Sunday afternoon nap.

No one really talked about what had happened to Control, or the Superiors or anything else that happened on that night. Once he had tried bringing up the subject with Rogue, but she just said she had some homework to finish and ran away to her room. His teachers took no hint of it either. It wasn't a subject he expected to come up in day-to-day conversation, but everyone acted like had never happened. He at least expected some recognition for his heroic actions that wintry night — perhaps a trophy or a plaque of honor, an invitation to join the team maybe, or at least a measly "Thanks, Snake."

He was complaining about it to Evan one evening shortly before Christmas break when they were returning to their dorm from dinner.

"Maybe nobody wants to talk about it." He shrugged. "It was pretty traumatic for everyone."

Jake scoffed. "Are you kidding? It was awesome! I mean, sure, I might have sprained my arm, but it was a small price to pray to be an X-Man for a night. Besides, how would you even know? Anything about it? You weren't even there."

"Rogue told Amy who told me. Man, that chick will come up with any excuse to talk to someone." Evan sighed and shook his head.

Jake smiled. "Or just you."

"What do you mean?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "You aren't saying that—"

"That's right, bro. She's got it bad for you." Jake gave his friend a pat on the back and laughed a little. "Aw, c'mon man. She's not that bad." He said when he noticed Evan's mortified face."

"No, bro, you don't understand." Evan said, knocking Jake's hand off his shoulder. "The girl has no more intelligence than a lampshade. Yesterday she asked me if Yao Ming was a river in China."

Jake laughed aloud.

"Bro, I'm serious. The only thing she knows anything about is shades of nail polish. I thought she just followed me around because I'm the only guy who's actually nice to her."

"Nice?" Jake scoffed as they entered their room. "The only nice thing you've ever done for Amy was inviting her to go see Transformers 2 and that was only because you didn't want to be a third wheel with me and Jubes."

Evan shut the door behind himself. "Hey, I coulda asked Tabby instead."

Jake plopped down on his mattress and stuck one arm behind his head. "If you had any conscience you'd remember Tabitha was sick that week."

"Whatever. You wanna beer?" Evan asked as he lifted up the rug in between their two beds.

"Yeah, sure. We've got lite, right?"

"We sure do, Jane — oops, I mean, Jake." Evan said sarcastically as he felt around underneath the rug for a loose floorboard.

"Hey, I'm concerned about my health." Jake said with a smile.

Prying up the floorboard, Evan pulled out two cans of lite beer and threw one to his friend. "Why don't you just buy some fitness videos? I'm sure you can just borrow some from Wolverine."

"Ha-ha." Jake said mockingly as they both cracked open their beers, took a long drink and sighed. "So what did Amy say to you anyway?"

"About that night? Oh, I dunno..." Evan sat down in his desk chair and turned toward Jake. "I wasn't listening most of the time. I think she said something about absorbing a witch's powers or something. I don't know what the hell that's supposed to mean but..."

"The Scarlet Witch. You mean she absorbed the Scarlet Witch's powers."

"Yeah, whatever. Oh! I remember now. She said if she still had the witch's powers she would be able to touch Bobby again."

Jake groaned. "Oh, God... no this stupid 'I wish Bobby and I could be more connected' bullshit. She's suck a girl sometimes." He took another swig of his beer.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't mind if she wished it was you she could touch." Evan said as he laid down on his bed.

Jake let his telekinesis hold his beer and sat up to look across the room at his friend. "Excuse me?"

Evan sipped his beer and looked at the ceiling. "You heard me. It's no secret you've go the hots for Rogue."

Jake grabbed his beer out of the air and laid back down. "And where did you get that preposterous hypothesis? Did Steve tell you that?"

"No, you did. Every time she's around you practically—"

There was a knock at the door and quickly Jake and Evan shoved their cans under their beds. Jake grabbed his DS from the end table and pretended to be playing and intense game of Pokémon Platinum while Evan popped a few spikes out of his arm and began to throw them at an imaginary target on the wall.

"Come in!" He called, and Tabitha entered the room, smiling.

"It took you long enough." She said. "So what were you doing when I knocked? Please tell me it was steaming hot buttsex! I want to know all the details."

Jake shut his DS and grabbed his beer from underneath the bed. "Very classy, Tab, but keep dreaming. We were just enjoying some post-dinner drinks." He presented the beer can. "Would you like one?"

"It's tempting, but no thanks. If you remember, I'm rooming with pretty Kitty this year and she'd probably freak if she smelt something on me."

"Suit yourself." Evan said, taking a swig out of his can.

"I could hear you guys talking from outside. Any new interesting gossip?" Tabitha took a seat at Evan's desk, sitting backwards on the chair.

"How hard Jake has it for Rogue." Evan answered quickly. "Apparently he thought nobody knew about it."

"I do not like her. Maybe as a friend, but definitely nothing more than that." Jake said, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Oh, puh-leez." Tabitha said. "It's not like we're making fun of you. Besides," Her voice turned to a mocking Southern accent. "She's real perty."

"You're a douche, Tabitha." He said, finishing off his beer and throwing the empty can at her. She dodged and the can hit the wall, but no one cared enough to pick it up.

Tabitha rested her chin on her arm. "Speaking of Miss Rogue, her boyfriend's out for you, Jake."

"Me?" Jake sat upright, a bit surprised.

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Why's he after me?"

"Somebody started a rumor that you and Rogue were getting a little more than friendly."

Jake scoffed angrily. "How would that even be possible — y'know with her... disabilities?"

"Well, there is your telekinesis." Evan offered.

Tabitha nodded. "Ant it's not that hard to believe with the way you guys act around one another."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Let's demonstrate, shall we?" Evan said to Tabitha, and she nodded. "Oh, Ah'm so vulnerable n Ah just want somebody who can hold me late at night when it's rainin' outsade n love me fo' who Ah really am." He mocked Rogue in a high-pitched, horribly feigned Southern accent.

"Well, hey baby..." Tabitha said in a deep voice and pretended to slick back her hair. "I think I might just be the steamin' hot hunk of man-love you're lookin' for."

"Oh, Jake, if only Ah wasn't involved with Bobby, we could be together fo' evah and evah."

Jake scowled as they made kissy faces at each other and laughed. "You two sound like a horrible impression of Scarlett O'Hara and Johnny Bravo."

* * *

Another great quote from Winston Churchill! Perhaps his most famous, if I am not mistaken.

Sorry this chapter is so short... but the next chapter is the last and probably the shortest besides Chapter 1. Chapter 2 will be up tomorrow and if not then, within the next week. Anywho~ I must attribute the "preposterous hypothesis" to New Zealand's Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of "Flight of the Conchords". "Preposterous hypothesis" is a line from their song "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros". It's pretty hilarious. You should watch it if you haven't before.

I also apologize for the atrocious (but purposeful) spelling mistakes when Evan is mocking Rogue. I just wanted to accentuate (get it? accentuate?) the bad Southern accent. I also apologize for Tabitha's "buttsex" reference. I hope that won't lose me too many readers.


	24. The Return

_"When liberty returns, I will return."_

[xxxxx]

**Chapter 23: The Return  
**

In the morning, Lenore awoke with an odd feeling. She knew the room she was in, with its pink curtains and crispy sheets and the bins of Barbie dolls that sat stacked in the corner. And yet, it was as if she woke up in this bed for the very first time.

She pushed back her covers and stood up, but her legs were not strong enough to hold her up, and she fell back down on the bed. Again, she stood up and forced her legs to carry her to the bathroom.

Lenore brushed her hair back into a ponytail. For a few minutes she studied herself in the mirror. The same freckled pale skin, blue-green eyes and red hair... but somehow, something was different. She found some make-up in the cabinets and applied it in hopes of making herself familiar, but it hardly helped.

As she changed into her day clothes, everything seemed to move in slow motion. She found a purple sweater and a pair of jeans, modest enough not to look like they were bought from the kids' section.

It was early about five o'clock, and it was still dark outside. Besides the early time, she stepped out into the hall quietly, not wanting to disturb any slumbering students.

She tip-toed down the hallway and to the left, wincing when she stepped on a creaky floorboard, but continuing on when the sleeping mansion seemed to go undisturbed.

Finally she came to a door and quietly pushed it open, shutting it in the same fashion. She turned around the face Logan, snoring softly in his sleep. She approached him and sat beside him on the bed.

"Logan..." She whispered and shook him a bit. He grumbled in his sleep and shifted, but otherwise didn't move. She shook him again and whispered his name again, this time a bit louder.

He turned his head toward her and his eyes slowly blinked open. "Lenore?" He asked in a groggy voice.

"Yes. It's me." She said. He sat up and she saw in the light of the moon that he was bare-chested. A feeling of awkwardness arose in her, which she found odd — she couldn't recall a moment of feeling awkward around Logan before.

"Did you just wake up?" He asked. "Are you—"

"Yes," She answered briskly. "I can remember everything... it's not all pleasant though."

His strong hands held her forearms and she saw his tired eyes glimmer in the moonlight. "Try not to think about it too much... you feel alright, don't you?"

Lenore looked away from him, down at the dark shadowy floor. "I don't know... Logan, everything's going to be different from now on, isn't it?"

He didn't answer, so she just hugged him. Even Logan, one of the few people she was able to count on in the past few months, was different. She always remembered thinking of him as this strong courageous man, but even through the same memories he was someone else... someone rude, arrogant and ungracious.

"I still love you, Logan." She said, and nuzzled her face into his neck. A moment later she regretted saying anything at all.

[xxxxx]

After her morning routine of showering, dressing and coffee, Samantha headed down to the lab, where she knew she'd find Hank. She entered the lab to find him peering into a microscope and sat across from him at the workstation.

"Good morning, Dr. McCoy." She said, and his head popped up at the mention of his name.

He smiled when he saw her, and removed his glasses to their regular home in his breast pocket. "And a very good morning to you, too, Dr. Barrington. What have we here?" He pointed to the extra mug of steaming coffee in her hand, and Samantha slid it across the table to him.

"I just thought you might want some early morning caffeine to brighten up the day." She said with a smile.

He smiled back and slowly sipped his coffee. "So, what's the status on Lenore?"

"She got up early this morning. She remembers everything apparently. Now she's on a walk with Warren. She seems pretty happy, for a woman in her situation."

Hank sighed and sipped his coffee again.

"What is it?" Samantha asked, sensing his discontent. "Aren't you happy that this is all over?"

Hank looked away from her and sighed. He rubbed his temples for a moment and took his glasses from his pocket to fiddle with them. He looked back to Samantha. "I'm just..." He sighed again. "We're going to have to befriend Lenore all over again. She's a new person now that she has her memories back, and I'm certain that she doesn't see us in the same light as she did when she first arrived here."

Quietly, Samantha sipped her coffee and stared down at her hands. "I hadn't though of that." She said at last. "Do you think she'll adjust?"

"If she does, it won't be overnight."

"We're not the older, wiser aunts and uncles she once saw us as, are we?" Samantha said with a sigh. "Who knows how she'll take to us... especially Logan, for that matter."

Hank nodded. "And Logan has grown so attached to her. He's already replaced Rogue with Lenore as his lamb, and now there's no one left to focus his affections on... I'd be more concerned for Logan."

Samantha shook her head and sipped her coffee. "No, I'm not worried about Logan. He can hold his own."

After a moment of silence, Hank cleared his throat. "Samantha, I don't mean to be nosy, but... you are staying the rest of year, aren't you?"

Her fingers played at her mug, and her lip quivered a bit as Samantha tried to sort through her thoughts. When she thought of the hectic times of the past months, with the days going by not one just like the other, life seemed to have quickened to an incredible speed.

And then she thought of her days before arriving at the institute, spent working at the office, when going out to rent a romantic-comedy was the highlight of the month. Until seeing how exciting life could be, she had never noticed how meaninglessly her years had been wasted. And yet...

"I don't know, Hank..." She said, sighing gently. "Don't get me wrong, seeing you again has been great, and everyone here has been so hospitable, but I have a life in New Jersey. I have a house, a job... I have bills to pay and patients waiting for me..."

"Perhaps just until the end of the school year? We're low on teachers and—"

"Hank," Samantha said abruptly, "I really can't. Besides, I don't think Jacob would appreciate me hanging around here too much longer. I came here to help Lenore, and I've done my job. It's time that I go home."

"Maybe you could—"

"Hank, I —"

"No, listen to me." He interrupted harshly. He took her hand and held it firmly in his, and looked into her eyes. "When I heard you were here at the institute, I felt like I haven't in years. The time we've spent together hasn't just been great, it's been wonderful and amazing. I need to you stay... please." He paused. "I love you."

"Henry..."

[xxxxx]

The snow illuminated the woods that surrounded her, and seemed to go on forever in each direction. The trees, all but a few evergreens, were barren. Occasionally a branch would snap under the weight of the snow and come tumbling down with a flurry just behind it.

Lenore looked down at the water-proof boots Samantha had lent her. They weren't fashionable, but they were efficient, and she admired how they crunched in the snow. She listened to the sort of music her steps made in sync with Warren's.

In her mind, when she thought about all of the days she had spent at the Xavier Institute, everything seemed like it had been in a dream, or that during that time her body was being controlled by something other than her own will. She had thought about leaving now that her memories were back, but everything here at the institute was so pleasant that she thought it crazy that anyone should want to leave. A small little utopia, tucked inside the confines of these few acres. Logan had said it wasn't likely that Adrian should try and find her again, and she trusted what Logan said.

"Warren," Lenore asked, the first words spoken on their walk for a while. She didn't break her stare into the deep woods. "Do you think it's bad if I'm still afraid of Adrian?"

He thought for a moment, and shrugged. "It's okay to be afraid, but not too afraid. Not to the point where your fear is keeping you up at night." He paused, and looked at her. "Is it... keeping you up at night?"

"No." She said simply, and turned her neck to look at him. "I know I always have you to protect me." She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

They stopped and Warren gave her a kiss on her head. She returned it by kissing his cheek gently. "You're too nice to me, Warren." She stared up at him for a few moments, searching his face for something to give away his thoughts.

Abruptly, he leaned down and kissed her softly, but Lenore pulled back, surprised. "Warren..." She said with her eyes wide in surprise but before she could say any more, he grabbed her and held her closely, then kissed her, much more passionately than before. This time she didn't pull away, but locked her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

[xxxxx]

When Storm woke up, she didn't know what day it was, and she had trouble recalling the month. She walked into the kitchen and half-expected Jean to be there, sitting at the breakfast table with a cup of coffee for both of them. But she wasn't there, and neither was Scott, nor the Professor. She felt a ping of disappointment as she looked around the empty kitchen, but stifled her negative feelings and continued on.

During lunch she had her office to herself, and spent the time going over some of the institute's finances and reminding herself to take a bit of her sandwich every so often. It was almost the end of lunchtime when there was knock at the door.

"Who's there?" She called, looking up from her papers work and taking a moment to remove herself from the deep thought she had just been in.

"It's just me." Logan's voice called back.

"Come in then." she said, beginning to go back to work. He was probably just here with those papers she had asked him to get from Hank. It wasn't anything important, just—

She looked up to take the papers from Logan, or maybe a folder or a file, but Logan's hands were in his pockets and he carried nothing with him.

She expected him to say something, to explain his visit, but he just stood in front of her desk and smiled. It wasn't his usual, sly, amused half-smile, but this was a smile she had never seen him use before. He showed no teeth but spread his grin as far as it could go across his face and his eyes crinkled happily.

But Logan said nothing and only looked at the open door of the office where there stood a man. He was bald and handsome, with thin dark eyes. He wore the same thin, wide smile that Logan did, and Storm recognized him in an instant.

She ran to him the moment she remembered how to move, and embraced him lovingly.

"Careful, Ororo," His soothing voice said as he petted her hair affectionately. "I'm still getting used to having legs again."

"Oh, Professor," She said as tears of joy fell from her face. "When... how...?" She had so many questions to ask him, but she couldn't find her voice. She was too happy, too afraid that any second she would wake up from this cruel dream.

"All in good time," Xavier said, smiling. "Now, why don't you get us all some tea? We have a lot to get caught up on."

* * *

And so it ends! I apologize for the last few chapters being so short, but I had to break it up for organization and chronological reasons. Well, I hope you enjoyed it! I know I did. The next few chapters are just going to be thank yous and credits and all that jazz. Watch out because I'm actually thinking about a sequel! I already have a few chapters of it written, actually :D

The quote is from Victor Hugo!


	25. Credits and a Sequel?

First of all, since it doesn't say this anywhere else and everyone seems to have these "disclaimers" in their stories, I'll put mine right here: **All characters, locations, objects and ideas appearing in the Marvel universe **©** Marvel comics. All characters, locations, objects and ideas not appearing in the Marvel universe ****© me, Sara Allen.** Good, glad we got that cleared up. All quotes mentioned in the previous chapters were retrieved from brainyquote-com, thinkexist-com, and quotegarden-com. Now onto the other copyrights.

A Stronger Weakness **© Sara Allen.  
**

**Chapter 1: Taking Control**

_"He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them."_ - Chinese proverb**  
**

**Chapter 2: A New Friend**

_"Make new friends, but keep the old."_ - lyrics from Girl Scout folk song

_Barbie_ © Mattel, Inc.  
_The Hound of the Baskervilles_ © Estate of Jean Conan Doyle  
Lincoln © Ford Motor Company

The restaurant Annabelle's, appearing in this chapter, is based upon Isabel's, a cafe located in Avalon, NJ. I was originally going to call it Isabel's, but we already have a character named Isabelle and I didn't want the story to be any more confusing than it already is.

The book titles "Rulers of the Ancient World" and "The War that Made America" were created by me, and in case there are any books by that name, the similarity is purely coincidental.

The symbol on the hood of Warren's car described as a "cross with a circle around it" is supposed to be the Lincoln logo.

I also apologize for all the fluff and cheesiness of this chapter.

**Chapter 3: Sisters**

_"Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five."_ - Pam Brown

**Chapter 4: Without Control**

_"Without control there is uneasiness, but it also allows for the opportunity of creativity and growth." - _Tom Barrett

**Chapter 5: The Superiors Make New Friends**

_"Enemies make you stronger, allies make you weaker." _- Frank Herbert_  
_

Zippo lighter © Zippo Manufacturing Company  
Campbell's © Campbell Soup Company  
Good Housekeeping © Hearst Corporation

**Chapter 6: Midnight Snacks**

_"There's a funny thing about food... it sort of brings people together." _- adapted line from _Princess and the Frog_

**Chapter 7: Division 56**

_"My psychology belongs to everyone." - Alfred Adler  
_

**Chapter 8: Curses and Gifts**

_"It's a gift... and a curse."_ - reoccurring line from _Monk_

**Chapter 9: Survival of the Species**

_"We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love, power, freedom and fun." - William Glasser_

Hannah Montana © Disney  
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson © Estate of Jean Conan Doyle

"No shit, Sherlock." and "Ditto to you, Watson." are references to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

**Chapter 10: Old Tricks**

_"It's the oldest trick in the book, but we're short on tricks at the moment." - Jay Vick, Poisoned Medicine (2002)_

**Chapter 11: Taken for Granted**

_"Getting anything changes it from being desirable to being taken for granted." - unknown_

All of the cheesy pick-up lines used by Pietro were either from my imagination or heard around.

**Chapter 12: Acknowledged and Unafraid**

_"True courage is when one sees the danger in front of him, and runs to it anyways." - unknown_

**Chapter 13: Hot Pursuit**

_"An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit." - Pliny the Elder_

This is basically the same quote from Chapter 11, but reworded. I just noticed that.

**Chapter 14: Typically Unusual**

_"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle with the ordinary." - Jim Rohn_

Jersey ShoreMTV

Let me just tell you how much I hate the title of this chapter: a lot. The quote goes great with it and everything, but I'm just not satisfied with it. Maybe I'll change it sometime, when I think of something better. Oh, and if you get the subtle reason Quicksilver was eating pineapple-flavored ice cream in this chapter, then good for you ;)

**Chapter 15: Intuition**

_"The only thing that matters is intuition." - Albert Einstein_

The Art of War © Sun Tzu

**Chapter 16: Don't Be Scared**

___"An ugly sight, a man who is afraid." - Jean Anouilh_  


**Chapter 17: Windows of Opportunity**

_"Opportunity only knocks once." - proverb_

Cheerios © General Mills

**Chapter 18: The Identities**

"The identity of one changes with how one perceives reality." - Vithu Jeyaloganathan

**Chapter 19: Our Father**

_"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." - selection from the Lord's Prayer_**  
**

**Chapter 20: The Enemy**

"_Having an enemy means that you've stood up for something, sometime in your life_." - Winston Churchill

I apologize for the poorly written fight scenes in this chapter and in the next. I'm not that experienced in writing them, but I've been trying to brush up and hopefully I'll get better as time goes on.

**Chapter 21: Belonging**

_"A man without decision can never be said to belong to himself." - John W Foster_

Full House & Uncle Jesse © ABC

I'm sorry for the unsatisfying climax...

**Chapter 22: Only the Beginning**

_"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning__." - Winston Churchill_

Yao Ming © ...Yao Ming?  
Transformers 2 © Steven Spielberg (?) (I have to give credit to someone...)  
Nintendo DS © Nintendo  
Pokemon Platinum version © Nintendo  
Scarlett O'Hara © Margaret Mitchell  
Johnny Bravo © Cartoon Network

Fun fact... did you know Mae Whitman, the voice for Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender also played Little Suzy on Johnny Bravo?

**Chapter 23: The Return**

_"When liberty returns, I will return." - Victor Hugo_

Do I sense a little romance between Hank and Samantha?

* * *

And thus our stories comes to a complete stop. As before I have mentioned a possible sequel, and I will add another chapter to this if I decide to go through with it. So if you want to read the sequel, add this to your watchlist or check back every few days! The sequel will focus on the students more than the X-Men. For the most part it will be plotless, but I promise I do have a plot planned for it already.


	26. Sequel

Alright... I plan (sort of) on writing a sequel. It is set in the school year after this story, and focuses mainly on the students (Rogue, Bobby, Kitty). All of the my characters that appeared in this one will be appearing in the sequel. It will be called "The Unlikely Heroes". But I'm not going to write it if nobody's going to read it. **SO I NEED PEOPLE TO COMMENT ON THIS, TELLING ME THAT THEYlLL BE READING IT.** Unless you won't be reading it.

Yours,  
Boss


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